Elon Musk Sued By Tesla Investor, Claims Tweets Violate SEC Settlement

Elon Musk, Tesla’s Chief executive, and the company’s board have been sued by a shareholder who claims Musk violated his 2018 settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over his Twitter account.

According to the New York Post, an unsealed complaint in Delaware Chancery Court states Musk’s tweeted “erratic” tweets, which included a post last May saying Tesla’s stock price was “too high.” It also states that the company’s board failed to monitor Musk’s compliance with the SEC settlement, which exposed shareholders to billions of dollars in  losses.

The settlement referenced stemmed from Musk’s August 2018 tweet that said he was considering taking the company private and had “funding secured” for a possible $72 billion transaction.

Both Musk and Tesla agreed they would pay $20 million in civil fines to settle with the regulator, and Musk himself said he would have company attorneys vet some of his tweets before posting.

But the lawsuit filed by the shareholder said Musk has continued tweeting without the required approval. The complaint seeks to have Musk and other Tesla directors pay damages to the company for breaching their fiduciary duties.