Musk’s rants rekindle concern about troublesome tweeting
SAN FRANCISCO: Just days after hastily abandoning a shortlived exploration of taking Tesla Inc. private, Elon Musk returned to Twitter to showcase the impulsiveness that has raised the eyebrows of investors and regulators alike lately.
In a series of posts late on Tuesday, the unpredictable chief executive officer denied that he cried during a New York Times interview earlier this month. Musk then couldn’t resist trading barbs with a follower who criticized him for calling a cave explorer in Thailand a pedophile back in July. “For the record, my voice cracked once during the NY Times article. That’s it. There were no tears”.
Musk steered clear of making any assertions about Tesla, a key distinction from his posts that are said to be under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. But the missives served as fresh reminders of Musk’s erratic Twitter tendencies and reinforced concerns about whether he can adhere to the SEC’s rules, now that he’s decided Tesla will stay public and continue to fall under the agency’s oversight.
“He’s not going to become a typical CEO, so the question is whether he’s going to make statements that run afoul of securities laws,” said Ken Bertsch, an executive director at the Council of Institutional Investors, a trade group that represents public pension funds that own Tesla shares. With the SEC, Musk is “going to be on a shorter leash,” Bertsch said. “And I’m sure the company’s lawyers are telling him that.”
You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me? He was offered free legal services. And you call yourself @yoda …
The SEC hasn’t acknowledged that it’s investigating Tesla, and Ryan White, a spokesman for the agency, declined to comment for this story. A Tesla spokesman also declined to comment.
Musk started 17 days of drama when he tweeted on August 7 that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private, without sharing evidence that investor money was indeed lined up. Generally, the SEC considers statements by executives to be material information that have to be true, and the comment prompted a subpoena from the regulator.
After Musk has changed course Friday and pledged to keep Tesla public, one of the biggest risks he faces is that the SEC will try to bar him from being an officer or a director of a public company. This level of punishment often stings much more than any fine, which is why most companies aggressively resist it in settlement negotiations with the regulator.