Elon Musk has revealed that he obtained a “settlement demand” from the Gary Gensler-run SEC in connection together with his Twitter takeover — the most recent in a long-running public feud between the billionaire Tesla boss and the company.
Musk posted a letter from his lawyer, Alex Spiro, to Gensler on Thursday stating that the billionaire had been advised to “agree within 48 hours to either accept a monetary payment or face charges on numerous counts.”
“Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?” Musk wrote in an X publish that contained a replica of the letter.
Within the letter, Spiro mentioned the demand was associated to “certain purchases, sales and disclosures of Twitter shares” and was the most recent signal of what he referred to as “more than six years of harassment of Mr. Musk by the Commission.” Spiro additionally disclosed that the SEC has “reopened” a probe into Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink.
The SEC despatched Musk a settlement provide on Tuesday, however prolonged the deadline till this coming Monday after it obtained a request for extra time, a supply conversant in the state of affairs advised Reuters.
If the 2 sides aren’t capable of attain an settlement, the company may problem a “Wells notice” forward of potential enforcement motion, CNBC reported, citing a supply conversant in the state of affairs.
Spiro advised that the SEC’s newest actions in opposition to Musk might have been politically motivated. The lawyer additionally mentioned he had refused a requirement to offer testimony concerning the state of affairs.
“We demand to know who directed these actions — whether it was you or the White House,” Spiro wrote to Gensler.
In a separate publish, Musk shared an AI-generated photograph depicting Gensler as a snail-like creature carrying a swimsuit.
“Asked @Grok to draw a picture of @GaryGensler. Very flattering, I think!” Musk wrote.
Musk additionally focused the SEC in one other publish, writing that it was “just another weaponized institution doing political dirty work.”
“It is the policy of the SEC to conduct investigations on a confidential basis to preserve the integrity of its investigative process,” an company spokesperson mentioned in an announcement. “The SEC therefore does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
The SEC has been investigating Musk over his actions in 2022 throughout his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which he has since renamed X.
Musk revealed in April 2022 that he had bought a 9% stake in Twitter.
The transfer drew scrutiny from the SEC, which questioned why he hadn’t disclosed the inventory purchase inside 10 days of crossing a 5% possession threshold as required by legislation.
The SEC additionally cracked down on Musk in 2018 over the notorious episode through which he claimed to have “funding secured” to take Tesla personal at $420 per share.
The deal by no means materialized.
Musk ultimately agreed to a settlement that required him and Tesla to every pay $20 million fines and for him to step down as chairman of the agency.
The billionaire additionally entered a consent decree through which his tweets and different public communications needed to be pre-approved by firm attorneys.
After years of clashing with federal regulators underneath the Biden administration, Musk emerged as a serious donor adviser to President-elect Donald Trump throughout the 2024 election cycle.
Trump has tapped Musk and fellow ally Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, which is tasked with slashing the federal price range and pointless laws.
Buyers have taken Musk’s shut ties to Trump as a bullish signal for his varied companies. Musk’s private internet value has swelled above $400 billion — the very best determine on report.
Gensler — who has often clashed with the tech trade over his harsh crackdown on cryptocurrencies — mentioned he would resign as SEC chair following Trump’s election win.
Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a staunch ally of the crypto sector, to interchange Gensler.
With Submit wires
