Musk and Tesla each paid $20 million in civil penalties and Musk resigned as Tesla’s chairman to satisfy SEC allegations that Musk deceived investors on Aug. 7, 2018, by tweeting that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private.
According to the SEC, the accessible funds have since increased to almost $41.2 million, including interest.
Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, declined to comment.
Musk is attempting to void his 2018 deal with the SEC, which requires that his tweets be pre-approved by a Tesla lawyer if they may be relevant to investors. Continue reading for the complete story.
The SEC has objected to Musk’s proposal. It is also looking at Musk’s Nov. 6, 2021, tweet in which he asked his followers whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla share to cover stock option tax liabilities.
Musk has since sold almost 15 million Tesla shares, valued at approximately $16.4 billion.