Elon Musk sued by the American stock market watchdog over the buyback of Twitter shares in 2022

The scheme would have allowed him to avoid paying at least $150 million. The American Financial Markets Regulatory Authority (SEC) filed a complaint on Tuesday against Elon Musk for not having disclosed “in a timely manner” a purchase of shares in the social network Twitter in March 2022, before taking control of the platform which he bought back.

“Elon Musk failed to timely report to the SEC,” namely before the March 24, 2022 deadline, “his acquisition of more than 5% of Twitter’s outstanding common stock,” the institution said in his complaint, “which allowed him to pay an artificially low price”.

“Nothing hurt”

Still according to the American stock market policeman, this omission would have allowed the boss of Tesla and SpaceX “not to pay at least 150 million dollars for shares that he purchased after the expiry of his declaration of beneficial ownership” of Twitter, “at the expense of the shareholders” of the social network. The complaint demands that the world’s richest man, whose fortune is estimated at $417 billion by Forbes, pay a civil penalty and return profits to which he was not entitled, the SEC concludes.

The accusations of the stock market policeman were brushed aside by the person concerned. “Today’s proceedings are an admission by the SEC that it does not have a strong enough case – because Mr. Musk did nothing wrong,” assured Alex Spiro, the lawyer for the entrepreneur, to the AFP.

The SEC had already filed a complaint in October 2024 against Elon Musk to force him to testify as part of its investigation into the acquisition. She indicated that he had not shown up for a hearing whose date had already been moved several times. Alex Spiro assured that his client’s testimony had already been collected “several times as part of this misguided investigation” and estimated that “enough is enough”.

This new complaint from the SEC marks the culmination of a “several years of harassment campaign” against Elon Musk, his lawyer also said, cited by Reuters. “Everyone sees this sham for what it is,” he continued, saying that the complaint relates to a simple “alleged administrative omission to file a single form.” “An offense which, even if proven, only carries a minimal penalty,” he assured.

The director of the regulator soon to be replaced

The prevarications and attacks during the months leading up to the takeover, as well as the decisions of the new owner thereafter, sparked numerous controversies, and led to various legal actions, from investors, former employees and companies that had contracts with Twitter. Shareholders had already filed a complaint against Elon Musk, accusing him of having disclosed his 5% stake in Twitter too late, as the SEC accuses him.

This new complaint from the institution comes in an already tense political context, a few days before the return on Monday to the White House of Donald Trump, close ally of the entrepreneur. The latter contributed more than 270 million dollars to the Republican’s campaign, and actively supported him, on X and in person at political meetings. The president-elect promised him the head of a commission for “governmental efficiency”, in order to “dismantle the government bureaucracy”.

Donald Trump’s return to power will also mark the departure of the president of the SEC, Democrat Gary Gensler, who will be replaced by Republican lawyer Paul Atkins, appointed by Donald Trump and a fervent supporter of the development of cryptocurrencies, just like Elon Musk. It is not certain that with a change in leadership, the regulator will maintain its proceedings against the entrepreneur, according to the New York Times.