Monday, October 1, 2018
Elon Musk, Tesla Settle With SEC
Elon Musk, the technology mogul who runs both Los Angeles-based SpaceX, as well as electric car and solar power manufacturer Tesla, has agreed to settle the securities fraud charge brought against him by the SEC last week. Tesla has also settled with the SEC over charges that the firm failed to have the requires disclosure controls and procedures around Elon Musk's tweets. As part of the settlement, Tesla and Musk will pay $40M in penalties, and Musk will step down as chairman--although he will remain CEO of Tesla. The SEC charges came as a result of a string of tweets where Musk had said he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share. As part of the settlement, the SEC said Tesla will add two new independent directors to its board, as well as put in place additional controls and procedures to oversee Musk's communications; the $40M penalty will be split between $20M from Tesla, and another $20M from Musk himself.