US financial regulator sue Musk over alleged violations in Twitter stock purchases

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, alleging that his acquisition of Twitter shares in 2022 violated federal securities laws, according to a filing released on Tuesday.

The SEC claims Musk failed to meet the legal deadline for disclosing his purchase of more than 5% of Twitter’s common stock in March 2022.

The omission reportedly allowed the billionaire entrepreneur to continue purchasing shares at “artificially low prices,” saving him at least $150 million, the agency said in its court filing.

“Defendant Elon Musk failed to timely file with the SEC a beneficial ownership report disclosing his acquisition of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of Twitter’s common stock,” the filing stated.

Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, dismissed the lawsuit as baseless, accusing the SEC of targeting the Tesla and SpaceX CEO with undue scrutiny.

“Today’s action is an admission by the SEC that… they cannot bring an actual case,” Spiro said in a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP), labeling the lawsuit a “sham” and the culmination of a “multi-year campaign of harassment.”

The lawsuit marks the latest chapter in Musk’s contentious relationship with the SEC, which has previously scrutinized his public statements and corporate actions.

Musk’s tenure at the social media platform, rebranded as X, has been fraught with controversies.

Since his acquisition, the platform has faced lawsuits from shareholders, former employees, and contractual partners. Shareholders have also accused Musk of deliberately delaying his disclosure of Twitter stock purchases, claiming it violated the timeline set by federal regulations.