Elon Musk of Tesla reaches an agreement with SEC on the use of Twitter

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tesla Inc. chief executive Elon Musk has reached an agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a dispute over the use of Twitter by Musk, according to a report filed on Friday. .

Musk agreed to submit public statements about the company's finances to a consultant, the file said.

If approved by a judge, the transaction means that the founder of Tesla will no longer be condemned to contempt for violating an agreement with the agency that required him to submit any public statement that would be important to investors beforehand. review.

The new agreement, disclosed in a file filed in the Manhattan Federal Court, further defines the types of returns to be considered.

Tesla shares rose 1.4% to 238.50 USD after the publication of the deal, which lifts the veil on a cloud hovering over Musk as Tesla attempts to increase production of its most important vehicle, the Model 3 sedan, and make a profit upward. the same time.

The SEC sued Musk last year after tweeting on Aug. 7 that he had "secured funding" to make Tesla private at $ 420 per share. The agency said the tweet, which had pushed up the share price of the electric manufacturer up to 13.3%, violated securities laws. The privatization plan of Musk was at best at an early stage and funding was not in place.

Musk settled the dispute by agreeing to quit his position as chairman and having the company's lawyers approve written submissions, including tweets containing important company information.

In February, the SEC accused Musk of violating the rules by tweeting Tesla's production that had not been verified by the company's lawyers, and asked US District Judge Alison Nathan of Manhattan to condemn him with contempt.

Musk's lawyers argued that the tweet did not contain important new information for investors and that Musk did not need to be pre-approved for all Tesla tweets under the settlement.

At the 4 April hearing, an SEC lawyer said that if Musk were found guilty of contempt of court, the agency would ask the judge to ask him to report regularly on his use. from Twitter and pay a series of fines higher and higher. future violations.

Nathan refused to rule on the motion for contempt, but ordered Musk and Tesla to meet and try to resolve the dispute themselves.