Elon Musk received summons in SEC suit over Twitter disclosure

Elon Musk received a court summons last week in connection with the SEC’s lawsuit over his alleged failure to properly disclose purchases of Twitter stock in 2022 before bidding to buy the company, according to a filing on Thursday.

A process server delivered the civil summons to Musk on March 14, at the headquarters of SpaceX in Brownsville, Texas, the filing said. The server noted that upon his arrival at the SpaceX facility, three different security guards refused to accept the documents, and one told him he was trespassing. He “placed the documents on the ground,” and left while the guards photographed him and his car.

The summons pertains to a case concerning Musk’s eventual purchase of Twitter, now known as X, for $44 billion in 2022. Prior to the acquisition, Musk built up a position in the company of greater than 5%, which would’ve required disclosing his holdings to the public within 10 calendar days of reaching that threshold.

According to the SEC’s civil complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in January, Musk was more than 10 days late in reporting that material information, “allowing him to underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his financial beneficial ownership report was due.”

Once he took over Twitter, Musk used the platform to promote then-candidate and now President Donald Trump, and other Republican candidates and causes. Musk, who’s also CEO of Tesla, spent some $290 million to help propel Trump back to the White House and now serves within the administration as a top advisor to the president.

An answer from Musk, or his attorneys, is due on April 4. Musk has the option to dismiss by that date.

The SEC, Elon Musk, and Quinn Emanuel Partner Alex Spiro, his lawyer, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump’s White House has directed deep cuts in the budget and staff of independent federal regulatory agencies, including the SEC. The regulator offered $50,000 to many of its employees, encouraging them to resign or retire by March 21.

The Trump administration has also reversed a 15-year-old policy that allowed the SEC’s director of enforcement to issue formal orders of investigation. The agency will now require requests for formal orders of investigation to be pitched to and approved by a vote of SEC commissioners, a change likely to slow down probes like the one that led to the SEC’s suit against Musk.

Musk previously settled civil securities fraud charges brought by the SEC at Tesla, his autos business. In that matter, Musk and Tesla each had to pay $20 million in fines, and Musk had to temporarily relinquish his role as chairman of the Tesla board.

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