Electric car maker Tesla disclosed in a regulatory filing published Monday it received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its settlement with the regulator designed to rein in Chief Executive Elon Musk’s Twitter posts.
Tesla disclosed the SEC issued a subpoena Nov. 16, this one “seeking information on our governance processes around compliance with the SEC settlement, as amended.”
Though no specific details regarding what Twitter post, if any, triggered the SEC action, the date of the subpoena came 10 days after Musk polled millions of his Twitter followers if he should sell 10 percent of his Tesla stock.
The subpoena breathes new life into the SEC’s ongoing battle with Musk. In September 2018, the agency sued Tesla for comments Musk made on Twitter about possibly taking the publicly traded company private, charging that the post misled investors. The two sides quickly reached a settlement, requiring Tesla and Musk to each pay a civil penalty of $20 million; Musk to step down as chairman of Tesla’s board; and that Musk’s future written communications relevant to shareholders be reviewed.
In April 2019, the settlement was amended to modify certain of the previously agreed disclosure procedures after a Musk post on Twitter regarding car production totals drew the SEC’s ire.
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