SEC to Seek Sanctions Against Elon Musk in Twitter Takeover Probe

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its intent to seek sanctions against Elon Musk after he failed to appear for a court-ordered testimony regarding his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. According to a filing in a San Francisco federal court, Musk notified the SEC just three hours before his scheduled September 10 testimony that he would not attend.

The SEC claims Musk’s absence is part of a broader pattern of “gamesmanship” and delay tactics, and they will be filing a motion to hold him in civil contempt. Musk, who was at Cape Canaveral overseeing SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission on that day, argued through his lawyer, Alex Spiro, that his absence was an “emergency” and attending the launch was critical to astronaut safety.

The SEC’s investigation centers on whether Musk violated securities laws in early 2022 when he began accumulating Twitter stock. Shareholders and regulators have criticized Musk for delaying the disclosure of his ownership stake, which eventually reached 9.2%, beyond the 5% threshold that mandates public disclosure. Musk’s defense claims the delay was an oversight and that it was “a mistake” rather than intentional wrongdoing.

This latest conflict follows a longstanding feud between Musk and the SEC, dating back to 2018 when the regulator sued him over misleading tweets about taking Tesla private. Musk settled that lawsuit by paying a $20 million fine and stepping down as Tesla’s chairman.

Musk’s testimony has been rescheduled for October 3, but the SEC remains skeptical about his compliance. The regulator is pushing for clear consequences to ensure Musk does not continue to evade their investigation.