ELON MUSK FACES NEW STORM

ELON Musk is facing a new round of regulatory trouble for tweets about Tesla, raising fresh concerns about the billionaire chief executive’s ability to keep his impulses in check and responsibly run a public company. The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday asked a judge to hold Musk in contempt for violating a settlement that required him to get Tesla approval for social media posts and other writings that could be material to investors. He breached that deal with a February 19 tweet that said Tesla would make about half a million cars in 2019, the agency claims. The chief executive posted a few hours later that deliveries would only reach about 400 000. The SEC’s move puts Musk in fresh legal peril less than five months after he settled claims that he misled the public with tweets about taking the electric-car maker private. He could face a variety of penalties, with the stiffest being that he’ll be barred from running Tesla or any other public company for a period of time, said Charles Elson, director of the John L Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “Having your chief executive in contempt of an SEC action is a pretty bad thing,” Elson said in a phone interview. “They settled with him and within a few months he’s back to doing similar things. It’s unbelievable.” Calls to Tesla and emails to Musk and his representative weren’t immediately returned. In a tweet after the filing, Musk said the SEC overlooked a comment he made on the company’s January 30 earnings call that Tesla may make as many as 500 000 of its Model 3 sedans this year. US District Judge Alison Nathan is handling the case. The news sent Tesla shares plunging as much as 5.4 percent after hours. The stock was already down 10 percent this year through the close of regular trading. | Bloomberg