A federal court has ordered Elon Musk to respond to additional questions from lawyers on Thursday regarding his takeover of Twitter, which is now known as X. The financial industry also has a question: Will he show up?
He didn’t show up for a court-ordered appearance at the Los Angeles office of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The planned interview on Thursday is part of a high-level investigation into whether Mr. Musk delayed revealing that he was acquiring a stake in Twitter before doing so in 2022.
The billionaire has previously stated that it was a mistake for this delay.
By calling for possible sanctions, the nation’s top securities regulator is attempting to compel him to appear on Thursday.
The SEC claimed that it spent thousands of dollars sending three lawyers to the court hearing on September 10 to take a sworn deposition from the billionaire tech mogul. Two of the lawyers were from San Francisco, and the third was from Washington, DC.
However, Mr. Musk’s attorneys informed the SEC three hours prior to the appointment that he would not be able to attend.
In a declaration, Mr. Musk’s lawyers stated that he had urgently traveled to the East Coast the day before for a “high-risk” SpaceX launch, but SpaceX had posted about the launch’s time two days before Mr. Musk’s deposition date.
Additionally, he informed interviewers at a conference a day prior to the meeting that he intended to travel to Florida “if the weather is holding up” for the launch.
According to the SEC, he did not tell them about those plans.
The post and interview only became known to the government lawyers later.
They asked a federal court to ensure Mr. Musk’s attendance after rescheduling the meeting that had been abruptly canceled.
Since the SEC began investigating Mr. Musk’s $44 billion (£34 billion) purchase of Twitter in 2022, he has given two depositions. In legal filings, the agency has stated that it is investigating whether the statements he made about his investments in stocks before he bought the company outright violated securities laws.
However, Mr. Musk refused to testify for the third time, and his attorneys wrote a letter to the SEC accusing it of harassing him. The SEC asked a court to order him to give more testimony in October.
In a filing on September 20, SEC lawyers wrote that Mr. Musk’s excuse for missing the appointment last month “smells of gamesmanship.”
They argued that it was necessary to discourage him from “failing to show up” on Thursday and asked US District Judge Jacqueline Corley to impose a penalty on him if he skipped the subsequent meeting.
They added that Mr. Musk was supposed to request a court order or written consent from the SEC before rescheduling.
Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, his attorney, responded in his own filing that his client and his businesses have cooperated with the SEC in this and other investigations.
Mr. Spiro wrote, “In this investigation alone, Mr. Musk has produced hundreds of documents, sat for testimony twice, his wealth manager has sat for testimony three times, and other individuals connected to Mr. Musk have also sat for testimony, all without rescheduling or cancelling any of those testimonies.” In addition, Mr. Musk has sat for testimony twice, and his wealth manager has sat for testimony three times.
“Immediately notified the SEC of the emergency,” according to Mr. Musk’s lawyers, who also said they had traveled to Los Angeles to attend his deposition last month
SEC attorney Robin Andrews, on the other hand, requested that US District Judge Jacqueline Corley take a firm stance against the billionaire in a court filing.
Mr. Andrews wrote, “The Court must make clear that gamesmanship and delay tactics must cease.”
