Musk became a major Twitter stockholder following the
purchase of 73.5 million shares in early April, and less than two weeks later
launched a hostile takeover bid.
He went on to ink a $44 billion deal to buy the San
Francisco-based company, but has since given mixed signals regarding how
committed he is to following through.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) letter to Musk
showed regulators asked him to explain why he didn't disclose within a required
10-day time period his increased stake in Twitter, especially if he planned to
buy the company.
"Your response should address, among other things, your
recent public statements on the Twitter platform regarding Twitter, including
statements questioning whether Twitter rigorously adheres to free speech
principles," regulators said in the letter dated April 4.
Neither Musk nor the SEC immediately responded to requests
for comment.
The Tesla chief is a frequent Twitter user, regularly firing
off inflammatory and controversial statements about issues or other public
figures with remarks that are whimsical or business-focused.
He has sparred repeatedly with federal securities
regulators, who cracked down on his social media use after a purported effort
to take Tesla private in 2018 fell apart.
Musk has cited the right to freedom of speech as a driver of
his efforts to undo an agreement with the SEC that tightened his use of the
social media platform following his August 2018 tweet that funding was
"secured" to take Tesla private.
Musk also faces a lawsuit filed this week accusing him of
pushing down Twitter's stock price in order to either give himself an escape
hatch from his buyout bid, or room to negotiate a discount.
The suit alleges Musk tweeted and made statements intended
to create doubt about the deal, which has roiled the social media platform for
weeks.
"Musk proceeded to make statements, send tweets, and
engage in conduct designed to create doubt about the deal and drive Twitter's
stock down substantially," according to the complaint.
His aim was to gain leverage to get Twitter at a much
cheaper price, or back out of the deal without suffering any penalty, the suit
argued.
0 comments:
Post a Comment