Elon Musk has been accused by the SEC of 2022 Twitter stock purchases
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week filed charges against former Twitter owner Elon Musk over his purchase of Twitter stock in 2022.
The complaint alleges that Musk did not timely disclose that he had purchased more than 5% of Twitter’s common stock in March of that year.
The SEC said this allowed Musk to continue buying Twitter shares at artificially low prices, and underpaid $150 million.
SEC rules require investors who own more than 5% of a stock to disclose their holdings within 10 days, but the agency complained that Musk did not disclose 11 days after the deadline. .
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission this week filed a lawsuit against former Twitter owner Elon Musk over his purchase of Twitter stock in 2022. (om Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Twitter shares immediately spiked after its announcement.
Musk began buying Twitter in April 2022 and completed the sale in October.
It paid $44 billion for the social media platform.
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Musk also complained that he didn’t disclose his purchase of more than 5% of Twitter’s stock in March. (Photo example: Muhammad Salim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
“Today’s action is an admission by the SEC that they can’t bring a real case — because Mr. Musk has done nothing wrong and everyone sees this as a sham,” his attorney, Alex Spiro, told FOX Business.
He added: “When the SEC retreated and left office, the SEC’s multi-year campaign of harassment against Mr. Musk culminated in the filing of a one-count Tiki Tac complaint against Mr. Musk as an administrative suspect under Section 13(d). Failure to submit a form – Even if proven, an offense that carries a nominal penalty.
This is the third indictment the SEC has filed against Trump. The first was in 2018 when Musk tweeted that he was considering taking a fake Tesla private for $420. As part of that settlement, he was forced to step down as chairman of Tesla.
The SEC sued Musk in 2023 to compel him to testify about his Twitter purchases, which he did a year later.
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With the Trump administration less than a week away, the current lawsuit could be one of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s last acts.
Reuters contributed to this report.
