Update: There’s a live stream of the SEC press conference detailing the complaint:
The Securities and Exchange Commission lodged a complaint today against Elon Musk following tweets sent last month by the CEO involving a planned private takeover of the electric car company at $420 a share.
The filing from the Southern District of New York identifies the tweets as “false and misleading,” adding:
Musk’s statements, disseminated via Twitter, falsely indicated that, should he so choose, it was virtually certain that he could take Tesla private at a purchase price that reflected a substantial premium over Tesla stock’s then-current share price, that funding for this multi-billion dollar transaction had been secured, and that the only contingency was a shareholder vote. In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source.
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018
In addition to the August 7 “funding secured” statement, the document identifies three additional tweets,
- My hope is *all* current investors remain with Tesla even if we’re private. Would create special purpose fund enabling anyone to stay with Tesla.
- Shareholders could either to [sic] sell at 420 or hold shares & go private.”
- Investor support is confirmed. Only reason why this is not certain is that it’s contingent on a shareholder vote.
Musk responded to the complaint, calling it an “unjustified action.” The company’s stock price just took a massive dip on the news.
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