The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) turned down Elon Musk‘s offer to pay $2,923 for missing a deposition related to his 2022 Twitter purchase. The SEC is now seeking sanctions against the billionaire.
What Happened: The SEC is probing whether Elon Musk or his associates engaged in securities fraud in 2022 when Musk sold Tesla shares and increased his stake in Twitter, now rebranded as X, reported Bloomberg on Tuesday.
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After missing depositions, Musk had proposed to cover the travel expenses of the three SEC lawyers who had flown to Los Angeles for the meeting.
In a court filing on Friday, the SEC argued that simply requiring Musk to cover travel expenses would fail to deter others from disregarding court orders. Given Musk’s substantial financial resources, the agency argued that stronger measures are needed to hold him accountable for missing his scheduled deposition in September.
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Musk, currently the world’s wealthiest individual with a net worth of $276.5 billion, initially declined to participate in a third round of questioning. However, he ultimately agreed to meet with SEC attorneys and provided testimony on Oct. 3.
Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, expressed doubt over the court's ability to consider a sanctions request, noting that Musk has already agreed to fulfill the SEC’s requested actions.
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Why It Matters: Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 2018 SEC settlement following Musk’s claim of having “funding secured” to privatize Tesla, which the SEC deemed false. In May, Musk was ordered by the court to appear for a deposition by the financial regulators regarding the Twitter deal.
However, the tech billionaire twice failed to appear before the SEC.
In September, the SEC prepared to reprimand Musk for his absence from a scheduled hearing in the same case. Musk’s lawyer informed the SEC that Musk had to urgently travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida for the launch of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn, thereby missing the testimony.