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.
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.