SEC responds to Elon Musk harassment allegations | Engadget

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has responded to Elon Musk’s . In a letter it filed on Friday with a New York federal decide, the SEC mentioned its frequent check-ins with Tesla have been according to expectations from the courtroom overseeing the corporate’s 2018 settlement.

At the time, Tesla had agreed its attorneys would preclear a few of Musk’s tweets after one among his messages drew the eye of the SEC. The particular noticed Musk say that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla non-public at $420 a share. Following an investigation, the SEC alleged the message constituted fraud, with Tesla and Musk finally agreeing to settle the case for $40 million.

But inside lower than a 12 months later, the SEC suspected Musk of not complying along with his a part of the settlement, in line with . In 2019 and 2020, the company’s attorneys wrote to Tesla to ask why a few of Musk’s tweets concerning the firm’s manufacturing numbers and inventory worth weren’t cleared by its attorneys. Tesla claimed these statements weren’t coated by the settlement coverage.

Tesla accused the SEC this week of utilizing its sources to conduct “endless, unfounded investigations” into the corporate and its CEO. It additionally alleges the regulator broke its promise to distribute the $40 million settlement to Tesla shareholders, a declare the SEC disputes. In the letter it filed on Friday, the company mentioned it was engaged on a plan to pay shareholders and would have extra particulars to share by March. As for the “endless” investigations, the company mentioned it has “sought to meet and confer with counsel for Tesla and Mr. Musk to address any concerns regarding Tesla and Mr. Musk’s compliance.”

It’s unclear what occurs subsequent now that the SEC has responded to Tesla’s allegations. The Journal stories US District Judge Alison Nathan has requested the 2 sides to work via their dispute slightly than push for the courtroom to intervene within the matter.