SEC Files Motion for Elon Musk's Testimony in Twitter Takeover Investigation

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to testify in court as part of an ongoing investigation into his purchase of social media company Twitter, which has since been renamed "X."

The SEC says the tech mogul promised to testify on September 15 but did not, despite the subpoena. Elon Musk unexpectedly informed the SEC staff that he would not be appearing in his scheduled testimony two days before it started. Consequently, the commission filed a request to force Elon Musk to abide by a previously issued subpoena for an inquiry on Thursday in a federal court in San Francisco, according to AP News.

In its court document, the SEC noted that Elon Musk's objections, including one to the testimony site's selection of San Francisco, the location of X's headquarters, were untimely and without merit.

The Elon Musk investigation focuses on the sequence of events that led to his purchase of the popular social media platform Twitter, finalized in October 2022 following a long legal dispute with Twitter's prior management. He first agreed to buy Twitter in April 2022 but subsequently tried to back out, leading Twitter to sue him to enforce the Elon Musk Twitter acquisition.

The SEC started looking into whether any securities laws were broken about Musk's purchases of Twitter stock and his associated claims and SEC filings in April 2022. The SEC stated that its probe covers Musk's 2022 Twitter share buys, statements, filings, and a specific SEC filing's date and information.

Elon Musk Wants 'Punitive Action' Against SEC

The commission sued Elon Musk, alleging that his reluctance to testify was unconstitutional and that he failed to present acceptable grounds. Notably, Elon Musk has a history of tense encounters with the SEC, per ARS Technica. He stressed that these regulatory organizations needed a complete overhaul and a committee "to take punitive action against those individuals who have abused their regulatory power for personal and political gain." Musk said he was eager for these modifications to be implemented.

The SEC offered to hold the testimony at its Fort Worth, Texas, office, which is closer to Musk's home, to allay his concerns; nonetheless, the Tesla CEO declined to come. According to the SEC, Musk's opposition is impeding and holding up the agency's probe into possible breaches of federal securities laws.

Following the SEC's court filing, Elon Musk jokingly posted on X (formerly Twitter): "If there's a big scandal about me, my only request is that it be called Elongate."

Elon Musk Biography is Not an Excuse

Furthermore, Elon Musk claimed that his non-compliance was due to the recent release of his biography by Walter Isaacson, stating that the book may include important information. However, the SEC rejected this objection, claiming that the tech billionaire cannot use the publication of the Elon Musk biography as an excuse to evade the subpoena's legal requirements.

According to the SEC, its team is still investigating Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition and has not determined if anybody violated federal securities laws, CNBC reported.