The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday. The SEC lawsuit seeks to compel Elon Musk to testify in the agency’s investigation into his controversial purchase of Twitter last year.
The SEC is probing whether Musk violated securities laws during his acquisition of Twitter stock and in his public statements about the company in 2022. However, the regulator says Musk failed to appear for scheduled testimony in San Francisco last month.
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Elon Musk closed the $44 billion Twitter deal in October
Elon Musk closed his tumultuous $44 billion takeover of Twitter in October 2022 after several months of legal trouble. He proceeded to enact major changes as CEO until he stepped down in June 2023. Under Musk, Twitter reinstated banned accounts, laid off about 80% of employees, and began rebranding as “X” by July 2023.
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By filing a suit in federal court, the SEC aims to force Elon Musk to answer questions about the Twitter deal for their investigation. The agency needs his testimony to determine if securities regulations were broken during the blockbuster acquisition.