Elon Musk falls under SEC’s radar following delayed disclosure of Twitter Stake

Sahana Kiran
Elon Musk
Source – Unsplash

Elon Musk certainly created quite an uproar with his Twitter purchase. The $44 billion deal caught the eye of the entire globe. Sadly, Musk managed to grab the attention of the regulators as well. Now, a slight delay in disclosing his shareholders seems to have caused trouble in Musk’s Twitter paradise.

Last week, a public form with investors surfaced all over social media. The form revealed that Elon Musk had garnered investments from an array of entities, including Binance. Musk was obligated to file the Schedule 13D form as his investors entail more than 5 percent of Twitter’s equity shares.

Elon Musk, however, submitted this form about 10 days following the date he was required to file the public form to the SEC. Since his holdings peaked over 5 percent back on March 14 itself, he should have ideally filled his stake by March 24. The delay further paved the way for Musk to pocket more stocks without informing the other shareholders, WSJ reported.

The Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] has reportedly decided to investigate Elon Musk’s delayed disclosure.

How did Elon Musk benefit from this delay?

Daniel Taylor, an accounting professor at the University of Pennsylvania pointed out that Musk would have saved over $143 million by delaying the submission. The Tesla CEO seemed to be aware of the possible surge in the share price if the market had a clue about his stake.

Further elaborating on the repercussions of Elon Musk’s delayed disclosure, Taylor said,

“The case is easy. It’s straightforward. But whether they’re going to pick that battle with Elon is another question.”

Will Donald Trump make a comeback?

Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition gave an array of individuals hope. While several requested the addition of crypto, a few others wanted Musk to lift the ban on former President Donald Trump. Appearing in a recent interview, Musk said that the decision was “morally bad.” He further added,

“I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the county, and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.”

This, however, did not mean that individuals were allowed to say anything they intended.

“If they say something that is illegal or destructive to the world, then there should be perhaps a timeout, temporary suspension, or that particular tweet should be made invisible or have very little traction.”

A lot of them saw this coming as Musk’s Twitter was all about “free speech.” He further concluded by suggesting that he would reverse the ban on Trump.