Billionaire Elon Musk filed a motion on Thursday to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) civil lawsuit that accused him of waiting too long in 2022 to reveal his large stake in social media platform Twitter, later renamed as X.
In a complaint filed in Washington, D.C. federal court in January, the SEC said Musk violated federal securities law by waiting 11 days too long to disclose his initial purchase of 5% of Twitter’s common shares. It sought to force Musk to pay a civil fine and give up profits that the SEC said were a result of the violations.
Lawyers for Musk said on Thursday the billionaire stopped purchasing additional shares of then-publicly-listed Twitter and filed his disclosure one business day after his wealth manager consulted securities disclosure counsel about potential filing requirements. […]
“The SEC does not allege that Mr. Musk acted intentionally, deliberately, willfully, or even recklessly… Rather, the SEC alleges that Mr. Musk late-filed a single beneficial ownership form three years ago, and fully corrected any alleged error immediately upon its discovery. There is no ongoing violation,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s lawyers said.
Source: Musk seeks dismissal of SEC lawsuit on his 2022 Twitter stake | Reuters