The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced plans to seek sanctions against Elon Musk for failing to appear and testify in court as part of the agency’s inquiry into his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which he has since renamed X.
The SEC is requesting a court order to explain why the CEO of Tesla and owner of SpaceX should not be held in civil contempt after he decided not to appear for his testimony just three hours before the scheduled session on September 10. This development was reported by Reuters, citing a court filing in San Francisco.
The SEC’s motion highlights that Musk’s actions were in violation of a court order from May 31 that required his testimony. Instead of attending the court session, the report states that Musk traveled to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to witness the launch of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission on the same day.
SEC lawyer Robin Andrews characterized Musk’s excuse for not attending the testimony as “gamesmanship,” emphasizing the need for the court to address and halt such delay tactics from Musk.
The SEC has not provided a comment on the matter to FOX Business.
In response, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, argued that Musk’s absence on September 10 was due to an emergency beyond his control and suggested that there is no reason to believe such an emergency would occur again in the future. FOX Business has reached out to X and Spiro for further comments.
In July, Musk attributed his non-compliance with SEC disclosure requirements to a misunderstanding, labeling the delay as a “mistake.” Furthermore, in October 2023, Musk faced a lawsuit from the financial regulator after missing a scheduled interview with the SEC in San Francisco. Musk has accused the SEC of attempting to “harass” him through repeated subpoenas.
