Court Dismisses SEC’s Bid for Further Action Against Elon Musk 

United States: A federal judge on Friday dismissed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s bid to discipline Elon Musk for not showing up for deposition for the agency’s investigation into the tycoon’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. 

US district judge Jacqueline Scott Corley from San Francisco rejected further penalties for Musk’s absence on September 10, stating that his appearance on October 3 and payment of the SEC’s $2,923 travel expenses were adequate, as reported by Reuters. 

SEC Pursued Contempt Charges 

“Because the present circumstances forestall any occasion for meaningful relief that the court could grant, the SEC’s request is moot,” Corley wrote. 

The SEC had asked for a ruling that Musk had disregarded a court order to testify on May 31. 

According to the report, merely having to pay back travel expenses wouldn’t stop many others from disobeying court orders, “much less someone of Musk’s extraordinary means.” 

#TechToday | Judge rejects SEC’s bid to sanction Elon Musk over missed testimony in Twitter probe https://t.co/hjrsRD8SFY

— Business Today (@business_today) November 23, 2024

SEC Pursued Contempt Charges 

Musk testified on October 3 and claimed to have complied with the injunction. The Forbes magazine estimates his net worth to be $321.7 billion. 

The SEC said nothing on the matter, and to the request made after working hours, responding would have been impossible. Note to the former: Lawyers for Musk did not immediately respond to similar requests. 

Musk owns electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX and is currently the richest man in the world, he will go to Florida’s Cape Canaveral on September 10 in order to oversee SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission. 

Musk’s latest issue with the law is the way in which he was least forthcoming with information about his stake in the firm; the SEC is probing whether Musk violated securities laws in early 2022 by waiting at least 10 days to come clean that he had started buying Twitter shares. 

Business critics and some stock market players have said this allowed him to acquire the stakes at low prices before he reported having a 9.2 percent stake at Twitter, followed by an offer to purchase the whole firm. 

In July, Musk stated that he did not understand disclosure rules by the SEC and that “everything pointed” towards him making an error, as reported by Reuters. 

A History of Legal Clashes 

The SEC sued Musk in 2018 for his tweets about taking Tesla private. He also settled the same lawsuit by tendering a $20 million fine, consenting to Tesla attorneys to conduct a pre-approval of certain posts he wanted to share on social media, and also charging that he had relinquished his position as Tesla chairman. 

The case is SEC v Musk, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 23-mc-80253.