SEC sues Elon Musk: allegations of Twitter stock purchases uncovered!

SEC sues Elon Musk: allegations of Twitter stock purchases uncovered!

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued tech billionaire Elon Musk over his delayed mandatory disclosure of his purchase of Twitter in 2022. The agency accuses Musk of disclosing his stake in Twitter too late, which allowed him to purchase shares at a cheaper price. Musk is said to have made around $150 million in ill-gotten gains, as the SEC emphasizes in its lawsuit. The accusation is that Musk only made his shareholding of over five percent public on April 4, 2022, even though he had already exceeded this mark on March 14, which would have required a timely report of ten calendar days 20 minutes reported.

The SEC argues that Musk's late reporting caused the stock price to skyrocket more than 27 percent after the announcement. Musk, who eventually acquired Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion and renamed the platform X, sees the allegations as unfounded. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, said that "Mr. Musk did nothing wrong" and sees the lawsuit as part of a years-long campaign against his client. The authority is demanding not only the repayment of the ill-gotten gains, but also an additional fine to protect the interests of shareholders who have suffered financial disadvantages during this period, so vienna.at.

Future of the lawsuit uncertain

The future of the lawsuit remains uncertain, particularly in light of an impending change in leadership in the SEC. Current SEC head Gary Gensler has announced his resignation on Inauguration Day of Donald Trump, who will become president on January 20, 2025. This could lead the SEC's new leadership to set other priorities or potentially drop the lawsuit against Musk. In any case, all eyes remain on this legal dispute, which affects not only Musk, but also the regulatory landscape in the US.