The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit against Elon Musk, alleging he violated securities law related to his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, according to a federal docket.
The complaint alleges Musk "failed to timely file with the SEC a beneficial ownership report" disclosing his purchase of Twitter shares before he announced his ownership of the company.
"As a result, Musk was able to continue purchasing shares at artificially low prices, allowing him to underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his beneficial ownership report was due," the complaint reads.
Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro, told Business Insider in an email that Musk "has done nothing wrong."
"Today's action is an admission by the SEC that they cannot bring an actual case — because Mr. Musk has done nothing wrong and everyone sees this sham for what it is," Spiro said.
"As the SEC retreats and leaves office — the SEC's multi-year campaign of harassment against Mr. Musk culminated in the filing of a single-count ticky tak complaint against Mr. Musk under Section 13(d) for an alleged administrative failure to file a single form — an offense that, even if proven, carries a nominal penalty."
In a Wednesday post on X, Musk called the SEC a "totally broken organization," adding: "They spend their time on shit like this when there are so many actual crimes that go unpunished."
This isn't the first time the SEC has sued Musk. A 2018 complaint from the commission stemmed from Musk's "funding secured" tweet, indicating he'd planned to take Tesla private, which eventually resulted in a settlement under which Tesla and Musk both paid fines of $20 million.
The SEC did not respond to a request for comment from BI.
Correction: January 14, 2025 — An earlier version of this story mistated the defendant in the story's URL and meta description. The SEC sued Elon Musk, not Tesla.
