(San Francisco) The American stock market watchdog, the SEC, filed a complaint on Thursday against Elon Musk to force him to testify as part of the investigation into the acquisition of Twitter (now X) in 2022, one of many legal proceedings linked to this controversial takeover.
The SEC is investigating whether the billionaire broke the law when he bought shares of Twitter last year, a transaction that marked the start of a turbulent acquisition process for the platform.
The authority indicates in its complaint, consulted by AFP, that the president of X (formerly Twitter) did not appear in San Francisco last month for a hearing whose date had already been moved several times.
“Despite the specious nature of Musk’s untimely objections, the SEC staff attempted to negotiate in good faith with Musk to find an alternative date and location for his hearing,” the SEC said. “These good faith efforts were met with categorical refusal from Musk.”
“Musk’s continued refusal to comply with the SEC’s subpoena hinders and delays the SEC staff’s investigation into whether violations of federal laws […] were committed,” insists the authority.
“The SEC has already collected testimony from Mr. Musk on several occasions as part of this misguided investigation – enough is enough,” reacted Alex Spiro, the lawyer for the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, contacted by AFP .
The prevarications and attacks during the months preceding the takeover, as well as the decisions of the new owner afterwards, were marked by numerous controversies, and led to various legal actions, from investors, former employees and companies that had contracts with Twitter.
Shareholders have, for example, filed a complaint against Elon Musk, accusing him of having disclosed his 5% stake in Twitter too late, after the deadline set by the SEC.