### Elon Musk Faces Possible Sanctions as SEC Probes Twitter Acquisition
**Elon Musk**
**SEC**
**Twitter**
Musk’s legal representative described the SEC’s actions as “extreme” and unwarranted.
**Last updated:** September 21, 2024, 03:14 EDT
**Author**
Ruholamin Haqshanas
**About the Author**
Ruholamin Haqshanas is a contributing writer for CryptoNews, specializing in cryptocurrency and finance. With over four years of experience, his insights have been featured in numerous prominent publications within the crypto space.
**Author Profile**
**Copied**
**Last updated:** September 21, 2024, 03:14 EDT
### Why Trust CryptoNews
Cryptonews boasts over a decade of expertise in cryptocurrency coverage, providing trustworthy insights. Our experienced team of journalists and analysts merges deep market knowledge with firsthand evaluations of blockchain technologies. We adhere to rigorous editorial standards to ensure factual accuracy and unbiased reporting on both well-established cryptocurrencies and emerging projects. Our longstanding presence and dedication to quality journalism establish CryptoNews as a reliable source in the ever-evolving realm of digital assets.
**Read more about CryptoNews**
Elon Musk is currently under investigation as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks to impose sanctions following his absence from a court-mandated deposition regarding his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. The regulatory authority announced its intention to pursue sanctions against Musk after he canceled his scheduled testimony just three hours prior to the event on September 10, as reported by Reuters.
In a filing submitted to a federal court in San Francisco, the SEC indicated it would seek an order requiring Musk to clarify why he should not be held in civil contempt for failing to appear.
### Musk’s Last-Minute Cancellation Contravenes Court Directive
The SEC contends that Musk’s abrupt decision to skip the deposition breached a court order issued on May 31, compelling him to testify. On the day he missed the testimony, Musk, who heads Tesla and SpaceX, was at Cape Canaveral in Florida overseeing the launch of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission. Although Musk is SpaceX’s chief technical officer, the SEC insists he had prior knowledge of the launch schedule, given discussions within the company two days earlier.
The SEC’s attorney, Robin Andrews, accused Musk of engaging in “gamesmanship” and urged the court to put an end to such strategies. “Musk’s excuse itself smacks of gamesmanship,” Andrews stated in the filing. “The court must make it clear that Musk’s delay tactics must cease.”
Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, criticized the SEC’s actions as “drastic” and unnecessary. He emphasized the importance of Musk’s presence for the safety of the astronauts involved in the mission, noting that the deposition has been rescheduled for October 3. Spiro argued that the absence was due to an “emergency” and indicated that it was unlikely to occur again.
The SEC has refrained from providing additional comments but highlighted in its filing that there are no guarantees Musk will attend the rescheduled testimony on October 3.
### SEC Examines Musk’s Actions
The investigation focuses on whether Musk breached securities laws by delaying the disclosure of his initial acquisition of Twitter stock in early 2022. Under securities regulations, investors must report once they own 5% of a public company. Musk delayed announcing his 9.2% stake in Twitter, which has led to claims that he misled shareholders. He has since claimed that the delay was a misunderstanding of the disclosure obligations, referring to it as a “mistake.”
This is not Musk’s first confrontation with the SEC. In 2018, he settled a lawsuit concerning tweets about taking Tesla private, agreeing to pay a $20 million fine and step down as Tesla’s chairman.
Meanwhile, the SEC has faced mounting criticism for its “regulation-by-enforcement” strategy in the cryptocurrency sector. Detractors argue that the SEC has not established a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, instead opting to take legal action against prominent figures in the industry. Recently, a coalition of seven U.S. states has united to contest the SEC’s approach to regulating cryptocurrency.
**Follow us on Google News**
