In a dramatic turn of events, a US judge has wielded her gavel, compelling Elon Musk to heed a subpoena aimed at extracting answers from the billionaire regarding his notable acquisitions of Twitter shares last year.
The decree, emanating from California judge Laurel Beeler and unveiled on a recent Saturday, followed Musk’s conspicuous absence during a slated deposition with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September, as per a legal dossier.
“The court accedes to the SEC’s petition to enforce the subpoena,” the judicial pronouncement decreed.
Musk and the SEC now confront a deadline of a mere week to broker a consensus on when and where the enigmatic tech titan will proffer his testimony, the decree further stipulated.
The SEC’s investigative tentacles delve into the entirety of Musk’s Twitter stock transactions throughout 2022, alongside his proclamations and submissions to market overseers, legal documents elucidated.
Musk had already subjected himself to grueling interrogation sessions with the SEC in July, each spanning a half-day. However, the commission divulged to the tribunal that it had since been deluged with “myriad documents” prompting queries they yearn for Musk to elucidate.
Musk’s demurral towards the latest deposition was laced with an accusation that the SEC was wielding its clout to “torment” him, the commission contended in its filing.
“The SEC has already gleaned Mr. Musk’s testimony on multiple occasions amidst this ill-conceived probe—enough is enough,” rebuffed Musk’s legal counselor, Alex Spiro, in response to an AFP inquiry.
However, the SEC parried, asserting that “Musk’s persisting defiance to adhere to the SEC’s administrative subpoena is impeding and stalling the SEC staff’s endeavor to ascertain whether infractions of federal securities statutes have been perpetrated,” according to legal documents.
Musk’s tenure at the helm of the social media behemoth has been punctuated by a litany of controversies, sparking a litigious frenzy featuring aggrieved investors, erstwhile staff, and entities ensnared in contractual entanglements with Twitter.
For instance, shareholders have unleashed a litigious salvo against Musk, alleging his tardy disclosure of his five percent stake in Twitter, surpassing the SEC’s prescribed deadline.
