The American Financial Markets Regulatory Authority (SEC) announced on Tuesday that it had filed a new complaint against Elon Musk, accusing him of not having declared “in due time” his increase in the capital of Twitter in 2022. This failure would have, according to the SEC, allowed the billionaire to acquire shares at an advantageous price before taking control of the platform.
“Elon Musk failed to timely report to the SEC … his acquisition of more than 5% of Twitter’s outstanding common stock in March 2022,” the complaint states. The SEC believes that this voluntary delay in disclosing its participation would have had a direct impact on the share price. “This allowed him to pay an artificially low price,” specifies the organization.
A saving of at least $150 million
According to calculations by the American stock market watchdog, this omission would have allowed the boss of Tesla and SpaceX to save “at least $150 million on the shares he purchased after the expiry of his declaration of beneficial ownership”. In accordance with American regulations, any investor crossing the threshold of 5% of the capital of a listed company must inform the SEC within ten days.
This complaint is part of a tense context between the SEC and Elon Musk, already marked by several legal proceedings. In October 2024, the SEC filed a lawsuit to compel the entrepreneur to testify in the Twitter takeover investigation. The stock market regulator criticized Musk for not showing up for a hearing, despite several postponements of the date.
Multiple legal actions surrounding the takeover of Twitter
In February 2024, a federal judge finally ordered the founder of SpaceX to appear before the SEC. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, denounced an excessive approach by the authority: “Mr. Musk’s testimony has already been collected several times as part of this misguided investigation – enough is enough. »
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Since the acquisition of Twitter, which became X, Elon Musk has been the subject of numerous controversies and legal actions, both from investors and former employees or partner companies. Several shareholders also filed lawsuits, accusing the businessman of having delayed the publication of his 5% stake in Twitter, thus exceeding the limit imposed by the SEC.