Elon Musk has been ordered to testify in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into his acquisition of Twitter (now X) in October 2022.
The SEC is investigating whether Musk committed securities fraud when he began buying up Twitter stock to acquire stock before purchasing the social media platform.
Musk's acquisition cost an estimated $44 billion.
Related: Tesla reveals it received subpoena after Elon Musk's tweet
On Saturday, California federal judge Laurel Beeler said the SEC would subpoena the billionaire “within its authority” and set a one-week deadline for Musk and regulators to choose a date, time and location for testimony. It was decided that
If both parties cannot agree on a location and time, a judge will hear both parties' requests and make a decision.
Musk was originally sued by the SEC in October 2023 for refusing to attend a meeting with a regulatory body the previous month regarding an investigation into the acquisition of Company X.
The billionaire's lawyers argued that the SEC's investigation and interest in Musk “crosses the line of harassment,” spurring him to refuse to meet with him.
Musk's feud with the SEC dates back to 2018. The billionaire jokingly tweeted that “the funding was secured” to take Tesla private, and the SEC accused him of misleading investors by causing the valuation of Tesla's stock to skyrocket and then plummet. I filed a complaint.
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Musk settled the case for $20 million and the condition that he resign as chairman of Tesla's board.
“Thankfully, the wisdom of the people prevailed,” Musk said. Tweet at the time. “We are deeply grateful for the jury's unanimous verdict of not guilty in the Tesla 420 appropriation case.”
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