Judge urges Elon Musk, SEC to resolve tweet dispute
April 5, 2019
A New York federal judge gave billionaire Elon Musk and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) two weeks to settle a dispute over how much he can reveal in his tweets.
The SEC charged Musk with securities fraud last September over a tweet saying the Tesla co-founder had secured funding to privatize the electric automaker at $420 (€374) a share, causing a brief spike in the company's share price. Musk and the SEC laterreached a settlement that saw him step down as chairman, though he remains the company's chief executive.
The SEC says Musk blatantly violated the settlement in February when he tweeted about Tesla's vehicle production without approval. Mus said the tweet did not need preapproval because it wasn't new information that would be meaningful for investors and accused the SEC of violating his freedom of speech.
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At a contempt-of-court hearing in Manhattan, US District Judge Alison Nathan said if they can't resolve their differences over what Musk can and cannot tweet after two weeks, she'd rule. She also said court-supervised agreements must be obeyed.
"I don't care if you are a small potato or a big fish," Nathan said.
dv/rt (AP, Reuters)
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