Tesla CEO Elon Musk openly taunts US’ SEC
TESL A CEO Elon Musk openly derided t he US Securit ies a nd Excha nge Commission (SEC) in a n inter v iew aired on Sunday.
Musk had only recently settled fraud charges wit h t he reg ulator y agency over an errant t weet.
“I want to be clear. I do not respect the SEC – I do not respect them,” he said in a n i n t e r v i e w o n t h e C B S network news programme 60 Minutes.
Musk had t o r e s i g n a s Te s l a chairman under a September arrangement wit h t he SEC to set t le f raud cha rges stemming f rom a t weet in which he said he planned to ta ke the f i r m pr iv ate a nd a l ready had t he f inancing to do it.
That caused a brief spike in Tesla’s s h a r e pr i c e , l e a d i n g s o - c a l l e d short-sellers, who have been betting on the stock crashing for years, to lose millions.
Hefty fines
Musk and Tesla each had to pay a $20 million f ine to t he agency, to be split among harmed investors. He was forced to resig n a s cha i r man but allowed to remain CEO.
The SEC had also demanded oversight of t he mercurial Musk’s socia l media use.
But he said in the Sunday inter v iew t hat no one was proof read i ng his t weets.
“The only tweets that would have to be, say, rev iewed would be if a t weet had a probabilit y of causing a movement in t he stock,” he said.
“O t h e r w i s e i t ’s ‘ He l l o, F i r s t A mendment’,” he cont i nued, referencing t he US constitutiona l right to free speech, which he ca lled “fundamental”.
Asked how Tesla would know if his tweets would move the market if they weren’t a ll being read, Musk replied: “Well, I guess we might make some mist a kes. W ho k nows ? Nobody ’s perfect.”
Musk said he was abiding by the settlement, however, “because I respect t he justice system.”