Judge Nathan tells Musk and the SEC "It works!"

April 5, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Anyone who has ever tried to guess what a judge thought was a fool, but as a rule, when a judge sends both parties to a dispute with a warning to resolve their differences, it is a sign that the court think that they act as if nothing had happened. spoiled children and it's time for them to grow up.

That's about what Alison Nathan, a Federal District Court judge, did on April 4 when Elon Musk and SEC lawyers appeared before her. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a petition asking the court to sentence Musk in defiance of two tweets on February 19. The first stated that Tesla would manufacture 500,000 cars during the 2019 calendar year. Shortly thereafter, he clarified that by tweeting that the company would produce 400,000 in 2019 but would on the beat to produce 500,000 cars a year by the end of the year – would reach a weekly turnover rate which, extrapolated to 52 weeks, would be equivalent to 500,000.

SEC quit tweets, claiming it had deliberately violated an agreement with Musk. The SEC did this last year after the infamous tweet "taking Tesla privately" forced Tesla's short sellers to get their BVDs. Before his appearance in court on April 4, Musk said the second tweet was "truthful, of no significance to the shareholders, and in no way constituted a violation of my agreement with the SEC".

The deal last year led Musk to step down as president of the company, a position later held by Robyn Denholm. He was also supposed to make Musk more cautious when it came to posting tweets that could affect the stock price of the company.

The hearing room observers believe that if Judge Nathan had accepted the SEC, she would have punished Musk and would have finished. She did not suggest that the judge found the SEC complaint less convincing.

In court, she told both parties, "Put your pants on reasonable." She then ordered the two parties to meet for at least an hour over the next two weeks in order to come up with an agreement that would clarify the order initial and resolve the conflict. while waiting for the motion to hold Musk in contempt. They must file a joint report with the court before the end of the two-week cooling off period.

At the end of the hearing, Musk issued a statement stating, "We have always thought that we should be able to resolve disputes directly with the SEC, instead of rushing to the courts prematurely. Today, that's exactly what Judge Nathan asked.

According to a report by CNBC Musk was asked if the two sides would meet and settle their dispute over the next two weeks. "It looks good," he told the press with a smirk before going into a Tesla Model S. He was worried after what happened at court on Thursday, he certainly has not shown it.

Musk visits Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo

While in the area, Musk visited Tesla's Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, according to a report from Buffalo News. What he did or says there is unknown, but as far as we know, it's the first time Musk goes to the factory. Maybe he's taking a renewed interest in the SolarRoof which is expected to go into production this year.

Keywords: Elon Musk, Judge Alison Nathan, SEC, SolarRoof, Tesla

About the author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and wherever the singularity could lead him. His motto is: "Life is not measured by how many breaths we take, but the number of moments that take our breath away!" You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.