Biden’s SEC sues Musk on X shares issue

Elon Musk

Rama Krishna Sangem

This may be Joe Biden administration’s last push against Elon Musk – staunch supporter of President designate Donald Trump. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Elon Musk, alleging that the billionaire waited to disclose his acquisition of Twitter Inc. shares in order to build his position at lower prices.

Anyways, this case will blow away as Trump takes over at White House on January 20. Still, Biden administration wants to tweak Musk to tell him that it could do it.

The agency claims in a complaint filed January 13 Tuesday in federal court in Washington, DC, that the billionaire deliberately ignored a deadline to publicly disclose that he acquired more than a 5 per cent stake in the company early in 2022, several months before he completed his acquisition of the social media platform.

Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Musk, said the action is “an admission” that the SEC cannot bring an “actual case,” because Musk “has done nothing wrong and everyone sees this sham for what it is.”

As the SEC retreats and leaves office, the SEC’s multi-year campaign of harassment against Mr. Musk culminated in the filing of a single-count ticky tak complaint against Mr. Musk under Section 13(d) for an alleged administrative failure to file a single form – an offense that, even if proven, carries a nominal penalty,” Spiro said in a statement.

 

2 year old case

Musk, the world’s richest person, has become one of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters and closest advisors in recent months. The president-elect has tasked Musk, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, with a broad government cost-cutting initiative; the mega-billionaire has also joined the president-elect in conversations with foreign officials.

The regulator has been probing Musk’s investment in Twitter since 2022, sending a missive to him to explain why he hadn’t disclosed his stake in Twitter within the correct timeline.

By keeping his purchase quiet, Musk was able to buy shares at “artificially low prices,” allowing him to underpay for at least $150 million worth of stock, the SEC said in the complaint.

By March 2022, Musk had acquired beneficial ownership of more than 9 per cent of the company’s outstanding common stock. This triggered reporting requirements due within 10 days of the purchase. Musk filed the report 11 days later, making the company’s stock price surge by 27 per cent from the day before, according to the lawsuit.

Rama Krishna Sangem

Ramakrishna chief editor of excel India online magazine and website

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Chief Editor

Rama Krishna Sangem

Excel India national news magazine is a media startup founded and piloted by Rama Krishna Sangem, a Hyderabad based senior journalist with over three decade experience in the field of media, mostly in print journalism. His rich experience in reporting for both Telugu and English newspapers and heading a TV news channel and some online outfits will be of immense use to this venture. Excel India English news magazine seeks to fill the gap of analytical understanding to our readers who today are confronted with myriad media platforms. Our online version not only offers regular updates and commentary on happenings around us, but also gives larger stories not limited by space constraints of a print magazine. Excel India is ably run by a team of senior journalists committed to values and quality standards in the profession. We urge you all to support and guide us in this endeavour. Reach us at excelindiaweb123@gmail.com