Elon Musk is to step down as chair of Tesla for three years and pay a fine after reaching a deal with the US financial regulator over tweets he made about taking the firm into private ownership. It follows Thursday’s decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sue Mr. Musk for alleged securities fraud. Under the deal, Mr Musk will remain as Tesla CEO but has to step down as chairman for three years. Both he and Tesla will also have to pay a $20m (£15m) fine.
The SEC’s enforcement action brings to a conclusion a saga which began in early August when Musk announced via Twitter that he had secured enough funding for a massive private buyout of Tesla. The SEC complaint alleged that in doing so, Musk issued “false and misleading” statements, and failed to properly notify regulators of material company events.
Musk called the SEC’s suit “unjustified.”
“I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency, and investors,” he said. “Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way,” said Elon Musk.
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