SEC and Tesla CEO to Amend Settlement over Alleged False Public Statements

The SEC and Tesla's CEO Elon Musk agreed to amend a prior settlement agreement concerning Mr. Musk's allegedly false and misleading Twitter statements about a potential transaction to take Tesla private. As previously covered, Mr. Musk agreed to settle those charges in September 2018. At that time, Tesla had agreed to settle SEC charges for deficient internal controls and procedures violations relating to Mr. Musk's statements.

Under the proposed amendment to the settlement, any communications regarding Tesla business and operations by Mr. Musk must be pre-approved by an "experienced securities lawyer." If approved by the District Court, the proposed amendment would resolve a February 25, 2019 contempt motion filed by the SEC alleging that Mr. Musk violated the original settlement agreement by not obtaining pre-approval of a statement he made on Twitter on February 19, 2019.