SEC, DOJ Have Launched ‘Joint Investigation’ Into Elon Musk’s Tesla Amid Twitter Takeover Bid
Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino said Thursday that as Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter, a legal source told his network that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice launched what he described as a “joint investigation” into a “myriad of Musk regulatory issues primarily involving Tesla.”
BREAKING: As @elonmusk offers to buy the rest of @Twitter a legal source tells @FoxBusiness @SECGov and @TheJusticeDept have launched what he described as a “joint investigation” into a myriad of Musk regulatory issues primarily involving @Tesla https://t.co/TDFLED1XuI
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) April 14, 2022
The timing of the “joint investigation” and @elonmusk‘s bid is odd https://t.co/OKfsZY0Wwi
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) April 14, 2022
And already this scoop may have a moderating effect on shares. Pre-market, $TWTR was +11%. Right now +3%. Tune in for the final hr to see where shares go as @elonmusk hostile bid develops @ClamanCountdown @CGasparino https://t.co/Vp4O33rY1B
— Liz Claman (@LizClaman) April 14, 2022
$TWTR is in the red as traders believe @elonmusk’s regulator woes as first reported by @FoxBusiness gives @Twitter board room to reject his takeover bid. More 1220 pm edt @FoxBusiness @TeamCavuto
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) April 14, 2022
If true, this appears to be nothing more than a blatant act of political intimidation.
Musk said during a TED appearance on Thursday that the SEC’s investigations into Tesla are “like having a gun to your child’s head.”
From The Verge:
Elon Musk took the Securities and Exchange Commission to task during a TED appearance Thursday, claiming he had the funding to take Tesla private despite the agency concluding that he had not.
“I should say actually… with Tesla back in the day, funding was actually secured,” Musk said. “I want to be clear about that.”
Musk has been trading blows with the SEC over the agency’s order that his tweets be reviewed by a lawyer before being publicly posted. The order is based on Musk’s decision to send the now-notorious “funding secured” tweet on August 7th, 2018, in which he claimed to have the finances to take Tesla private at $420 a share. (Tesla has been a publicly traded company since 2010.)