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SEC Sues Elon Musk Over Securities Fraud, Wants Him Barred As CEO
William Maley posted an article in Tesla
The tweet that has become Elon Musk's version of Pandora's Box has brought forth a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Today, the SEC accused Musk of securities fraud when he tweeted that he had the funding secured to take Tesla private back in August. "Musk knew or was reckless in not knowing that each of these statements was false and/or misleading because he did not have an adequate basis in fact for his assertions," the SEC wrote in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court today. "Musk's false and misleading public statements and omissions caused significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock and resulting harm to investors." In the complaint, the SEC says the $420 share price was "based on a 20% premium over that day's closing share price because he thought 20% was a 'standard premium' in going-private transactions." At the time, that price would have been $419. The complaint goes on to say "Musk stated that he rounded the price up to $420 because he had recently learned about the number's significance in marijuana culture and thought his girlfriend 'would find it funny, which admittedly is not a great reason to pick a price.'" The SEC is requesting Musk "be prohibited from acting as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act." This whole mess began on August 7th with Musk tweeting this, This surprised a number of people and brought forth questions as to who would provide the large amount of funding needed for this. About a week later, Musk revealed that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) could provide the necessary funding. This was based on discussions with the fund within the past couple of years. But Musk would pull the plug on this a few weeks after announcing it. "Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was ‘please don’t do this,” Musk wrote in a blog post. According to Bloomberg, the SEC was already investigating Tesla for various issues including projection into car sales before Musk made the tweet that brought forth a number of problems. “This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way,” said Musk in a statement. "Neither celebrity status nor a reputation as a technological innovator provide an exemption from the federal securities laws," Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's Enforcement Division said during a press conference. Source: Bloomberg (Subscription Required), Roadshow, SEC (Link to the complaint) -
The tweet that has become Elon Musk's version of Pandora's Box has brought forth a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Today, the SEC accused Musk of securities fraud when he tweeted that he had the funding secured to take Tesla private back in August. "Musk knew or was reckless in not knowing that each of these statements was false and/or misleading because he did not have an adequate basis in fact for his assertions," the SEC wrote in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court today. "Musk's false and misleading public statements and omissions caused significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock and resulting harm to investors." In the complaint, the SEC says the $420 share price was "based on a 20% premium over that day's closing share price because he thought 20% was a 'standard premium' in going-private transactions." At the time, that price would have been $419. The complaint goes on to say "Musk stated that he rounded the price up to $420 because he had recently learned about the number's significance in marijuana culture and thought his girlfriend 'would find it funny, which admittedly is not a great reason to pick a price.'" The SEC is requesting Musk "be prohibited from acting as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act." This whole mess began on August 7th with Musk tweeting this, This surprised a number of people and brought forth questions as to who would provide the large amount of funding needed for this. About a week later, Musk revealed that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) could provide the necessary funding. This was based on discussions with the fund within the past couple of years. But Musk would pull the plug on this a few weeks after announcing it. "Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was ‘please don’t do this,” Musk wrote in a blog post. According to Bloomberg, the SEC was already investigating Tesla for various issues including projection into car sales before Musk made the tweet that brought forth a number of problems. “This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way,” said Musk in a statement. "Neither celebrity status nor a reputation as a technological innovator provide an exemption from the federal securities laws," Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's Enforcement Division said during a press conference. Source: Bloomberg (Subscription Required), Roadshow, SEC (Link to the complaint) View full article
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Last Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted out that he was considering taking the automaker private and had "secured" funding. Since then, the question of who is providing the funding has been left unanswered. Today, Musk wrote up a blog post that provides some insight. The post reveals that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is responsible for the possible funding of Tesla's move to private. In the last two years, representatives of the fund have met with Musk and discussed possibly taking the company off the market. The most recent meeting was on July 31st, after the fund bought an almost 5 percent stake. "During the meeting, the Managing Director of the fund expressed regret that I had not moved forward previously on a going private transaction with them, and he strongly expressed his support for funding a going private transaction for Tesla at this time. I understood from him that no other decision makers were needed and that they were eager to proceed," Musk wrote. "I left the July 31st meeting with no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed, and that it was just a matter of getting the process moving. This is why I referred to “funding secured” in the August 7th announcement." The board was notified about Musk's intentions to take Tesla private on August 2nd. From there, the board held a meeting (minus Musk and his brother Kimbal, who is also a board member) to discuss this possibility. Musk also planned to speak to the company's largest shareholders about the possible move. Towards the end of the post, Musk said he is continuing "to communicate with the Managing Director of the Saudi fund," and that "he has expressed support for proceeding subject to financial and other due diligence and their internal review process for obtaining approvals." But there is one big question that is unanswered; did Musk secure the funding when he made that tweet or not? As we reported last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into whether or not Musk was lying about the funding. If Musk was able to get the funding, it will be quite awhile before Tesla can become private. Per the blog post, the board needs to put together a plan that it can agree upon. From there, shareholders will vote on the plan. If approved, Tesla can start on the next steps. Source: Tesla View full article
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Last Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted out that he was considering taking the automaker private and had "secured" funding. Since then, the question of who is providing the funding has been left unanswered. Today, Musk wrote up a blog post that provides some insight. The post reveals that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is responsible for the possible funding of Tesla's move to private. In the last two years, representatives of the fund have met with Musk and discussed possibly taking the company off the market. The most recent meeting was on July 31st, after the fund bought an almost 5 percent stake. "During the meeting, the Managing Director of the fund expressed regret that I had not moved forward previously on a going private transaction with them, and he strongly expressed his support for funding a going private transaction for Tesla at this time. I understood from him that no other decision makers were needed and that they were eager to proceed," Musk wrote. "I left the July 31st meeting with no question that a deal with the Saudi sovereign fund could be closed, and that it was just a matter of getting the process moving. This is why I referred to “funding secured” in the August 7th announcement." The board was notified about Musk's intentions to take Tesla private on August 2nd. From there, the board held a meeting (minus Musk and his brother Kimbal, who is also a board member) to discuss this possibility. Musk also planned to speak to the company's largest shareholders about the possible move. Towards the end of the post, Musk said he is continuing "to communicate with the Managing Director of the Saudi fund," and that "he has expressed support for proceeding subject to financial and other due diligence and their internal review process for obtaining approvals." But there is one big question that is unanswered; did Musk secure the funding when he made that tweet or not? As we reported last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into whether or not Musk was lying about the funding. If Musk was able to get the funding, it will be quite awhile before Tesla can become private. Per the blog post, the board needs to put together a plan that it can agree upon. From there, shareholders will vote on the plan. If approved, Tesla can start on the next steps. Source: Tesla
