SEC Questioned Elon Musk Tweet About Twitter Deal

By Will Feuer

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month sent a letter to Elon Musk questioning at least one of his tweets about his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter Inc.

In a Thursday filing, the SEC published a letter sent to Mr. Musk, dated June 2, asking why he hadn't amended his Schedule 13D regulatory filing after he tweeted on May 17 that the Twitter deal "cannot move forward" until the company was clearer about how many of its accounts are fake.

The SEC staff said in the letter that if a material change to Mr. Musk's plans to buy Twitter occurred, then he should amend his Schedule 13D to reflect those changes. SEC staff also sought clarity regarding Mr. Musk's May 17 filing in which he disclosed his tweet from the same day.

Mr. Musk's attorney, Mike Ringler, responded to the SEC letter on June 7, another regulatory filing shows. In his response, Mr. Ringler said that Mr. Musk believes his May 17 tweet cited by the SEC didn't trigger any required amendment to his Schedule 13D filing.

"Despite Mr. Musk's desire to obtain information to evaluate the potential spam and fake accounts, there was no material change to Mr. Musk's plans and proposals regarding the proposed transaction at such time," Mr. Ringler wrote.

"The Schedule 13D, as amended, continues to reflect Mr. Musk's current plans and proposals with respect to the pending acquisition," he added in the June 7 letter.

Mr. Musk most recently amended his Schedule 13D filing on July 8 to reflect his letter to Twitter of the same day seeking to terminate the merger agreement.

Write to Will Feuer at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2022 09:26 ET (13:26 GMT)

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