US SEC Extends Deadline In Elon Musk Settlement Offer

Popular billionaire and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk has received an extension from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for his response to the Twitter inquiry settlement offer. The market regulator pushed the deadline to December 16 in the hope that Musk would file a response.

US SEC Compromises on its Deadline to Elon Musk

For a background into the matter, the securities regulator sent Elon Musk a settlement offer on Tuesday. The SEC requested a response in 48 hours, which should have been on December 12. Instead of his response, Musk shared a copy of a letter sent by his lawyer to Gary Gensler, SEC Chair, saying staff of the Commission gave him 48 hours to agree to pay a penalty or face charges.

US SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION HAS EXTENDED TIMELINE FOR ELON MUSK TO RESPOND TO SETTLEMENT OFFER IN TWITTER PROBE UNTIL MONDAY, SOURCE SAYS

IF MUSK DOES NOT RESPOND SEC WOULD PROCEED TO A ‘WELLS SUBMISSION’ AND POTENTIAL NEW SETTLEMENT DISCUSSION, SOURCE SAYS

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) December 13, 2024

The decision to move the deadline to Monday, is in concession to a request for more time. It is not yet certain that the Tesla CEO will comply with the request of the court. His lawyer Alex Spiro referred to the recent SEC actions as nothing but an “endless investigation campaign” targeted at the Tesla boss.

Per the extension granted, the case might proceed to the US SEC issuing Elon Musk a “Wells Submission” if he fails to comply.

Notably, the tech billionaire has been webbed in legal chaos with the SEC for sometime. However, this time around, the agency is investigating his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, which Musk later rebranded to X. Precisely, SEC is checking to know whether Elon Musk broke securities laws when he bought X stock two years ago.

Consequently, they are looking into statements and filings he made in relation to the deal. SEC has asked for court enforcement of a subpoena to compel Elon Musk to testify on the matter.

The probe on Neuralink

There is also a fresh investigation into Musk’s brain-computer interface (BCI) company, Neuralink. The call to probe the neurotechnology firm first surfaced in 2023. At the time, lawmakers questioned the safety of the company’s brain implant technology. Although Musk’s claimed it was safe, there were still some concerns.

Till now, the securities regulator is yet to disclose the exact nature of these charges though it refers to it as a multi-year investigation. In the face of this situation, Elon Musk wrote: “Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?”

Meanwhile, the court denied the Commission’s request to sanction Musk regarding the X acquisition deal for $44 billion last month.