A few months after having a major viral breakdown – including a video interview where he smoked marijuana Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, provoked the SEC, the highest finance institution in the United States.
The founder of Space X called the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission “broken”.
This is the second time that Elon Musk has a feud with the agency. Last year, he claimed in a tweet that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share.
As a result, Musk could either pay a multi-million fine or be removed from his role of CEO. At the moment, Elon Musk has until March 11th to explain to judges what he meant by his tweet.
A free spirit in a shark tank
Elon Musk might be a multi-billionaire enjoying Hollywood parties and be a living legend in the tech industry, he is far different from the “keynote/Bay Area” scene.
With a one-of-a-kind success story, every venture that he has tried turned into gold: Paypal, Space X, Tesla… He is also currently manufacturing the first high speed train in the United States, while public transportation has become a new market for high technologies.
elon musk was on acid with grimes and azelia banks when he told us tesla is releasing short shorts…. every day our simulation breaks a bit more pic.twitter.com/i0npUuGa56
— gabey (@trickroomed) August 13, 2018
However, Elon Musk is far from being your everyday-CEO. Just like a young adult, he likes going to nightclubs, taking drugs, meeting with celebrities and sometimes dating them… Which has created dramas and defiance among investors.
As a result, investors tried to push him out last year from Tesla. Musk then promised to go low-key on social media and remain discreet to the press. But this week, he caused a new storm on Twitter.
For Musk, the SEC is “broken”
A few days ago, Elon Musk posted on his Twitter account that Tesla would make “around” 500,000 vehicles this year… but four hours later, he posted another tweet, saying that he “meant to say” the company’s annualized production rate in December 2019 would be 500,000 cars.
BREAKING: Tesla shares drop on report that says the SEC has asked a judge to hold Elon Musk in contempt for violating deal https://t.co/zk6y9SiZE7
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) February 25, 2019
According to the SEC regulations, “Musk did not seek or receive pre-approval prior to publishing this tweet, which was inaccurate and disseminated to over 24 million people,” the SEC wrote in a court filing earlier this week.
SEC forgot to read Tesla earnings transcript, which clearly states 350k to 500k. How embarrassing … 🤗
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2019
A few hours later, the SEC stated that Elon Musk had until March 11th to explain to the court “why he should not be held in contempt”. Later on, Musk called the SEC “broken”.
Exactly. This has now happened several times. Something is broken with SEC oversight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2019
What’s next for Tesla?
Without a surprise, Tesla shares have soared for the past days. Elon Musk has announced on his Twitter account that there would be an announcement made on Thursday at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.
Thursday 2pm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2019
According to experts, this would probably be the time that Elon Musk has chosen to share his opinion on the SEC, as the court required him to make a public announcement before March 11th.
Most importantly, the SEC accuses Elon Musk of breaking rules promises. The agency specified that after last year’s incident, Musk and Tesla had to pre-approve each tweet of his. Last Friday, Musk’s lawyers admitted that he did not have he had not.
On Tuesday, Tesla shares were down 0.30% at $291.86 USD.