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Tesla Is Said to Be Subpoenaed by S.E.C. Over Elon Musk Tweet (archive)
Federal securities regulators have served Tesla with a subpoena, according to a person familiar with the investigation, increasing pressure on the electric car company as it deals with the fallout from several recent actions by its chief executive, Elon Musk.
The subpoena, from the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes days after regulators began inquiring about an Aug. 7 Twitter post by Mr. Musk, in which he said he was considering converting Tesla to a private company. In the post, he said that the financing for such a transaction, which would probably run into the tens of billions of dollars, had been "secured."
Tesla shares, a popular target for so-called short sellers who bet on certain stocks losing value, soared about 11 percent on the day Mr. Musk posted the message.
It has become clear since then that neither Mr. Musk nor Tesla had actually lined up the necessary financing aside from having preliminary conversations with some investors.
Musk tweeted[*] that he wanted to take Tesla private at $420 a share. Azealia Banks claimed[**] to have been in Musk's home and witnessed Elon Musk tweeting while using LSD and making frantic calls to shore up funding for a take-private attempt. Maybe Azealia Banks will be called to testify by the SEC?
[*] The actual tweets:
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.
9:48 AM - 7 Aug 2018Shareholders could either to sell at 420 or hold shares & go private
11:13 AM - 7 Aug 2018
[**] Take Azealia Banks' words with a grain of salt.
Also at Ars Technica, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Bloomberg.
See also: Goldman Sachs says it's advising Tesla
The Real-Life Consequences of Messing Around on Twitter
Previously: Elon Musk Considers Taking Tesla Private
Funding for Tesla to Go Private Could Come From Saudis; Lawsuits and SEC Scrutiny Increase
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @02:41PM
Has it? The only thing I've seen is a bunch of conjecture by astroturfers and the publishers who are dumb enough to print their vomit. Exactly HOW has it "become clear"? Last weeks slander is now this weeks fact I expect. Typical NYT tripe.
And BTW, how many of those shorts were New York Times employees? And how many of them have also been flogging astroturfing about the inevitable demise of Tesla? And isn't THAT stock manipulation?
Funny how quickly the SEC responded. It took them years to go after Madoff after he was outed. And since they still haven't really prosecuted the perpetrators of the 2008 wall street collapse, you've go to wonder about the nature of their decisions. Or or has that not yet "become clear" to the New York Times? I expect so. Wouldn't even be surprised if the "clarity" was coordinated.