The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk on Tuesday, accusing him of failing to timely disclose his acquisition of more than 5% of Twitter shares before his 2022 takeover.
The SEC alleges that Musk crossed the 5% ownership threshold on March 14, 2022, but didn’t publicly disclose this until April 4, violating SEC regulations. This late disclosure, according to the SEC, artificially inflated Twitter’s stock price, allowing Musk to purchase shares at a lower cost.
The SEC is seeking to recover the alleged financial gains and impose penalties on Musk.
Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, denied any wrongdoing and accused the SEC of a “multi-year campaign of harassment” against his client.
The lawsuit’s outcome remains uncertain, particularly given the upcoming presidential transition and the departure of current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.