They have accused him of defrauding Twitter investors of millions with his purchase

The purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk became a tug-of-war between the millionaire and the company in an attempt to lower the final amount of the purchase, which had been agreed for $44 billion. A purchase that, in the long run, the millionaire has been able to make profitable.

According to Bloombergan investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has concluded that the millionaire manipulated the registration time in his share purchase operations established by regulations, to prevent Twitter shares from rising. Price and thus be able to continue expanding his position in the company before the purchase.

Buy stocks silently. Securities and Exchange Commission legislation requires large investors to report significant purchases of company shares within a period of time. This regulation aims to protect small investors against the movements of large shareholders that can generate alterations in the organic price of shares when buying or selling large blocks of shares.

In the case of the US, large shareholders must notify the SEC of movements that exceed 5% of a company’s shares.

Prepared the land before buying. According to investigations initiated by the US regulator, Elon Musk would have exceeded the purchase limit of 5% of Twitter shares without notifying the SEC. The investigation revealed that Musk began buying Twitter shares at the end of January 2022, showing interest in joining the board of directors of the social network.

However, in mid-March of that year, Elon Musk’s position on Twitter exceeded 5% and the millionaire did not notify him of the operation for the following 10 days, as required by law. In April 2022, the South African millionaire already controlled 9.2% of the company.

The smoking gun. The SEC maintains that Elon Musk would have avoided notifying his purchase operations between March and April 2022 so as not to reveal that he was increasing his position, thus preventing the price of the shares from rising, and being able to continue buying them at a low price.

The proof of this is that, when the millionaire finally made that communication, the price of the social network’s shares shot up 27% compared to the previous day’s price. The Securities and Exchange Commission estimates that the millionaire defrauded Twitter investors of about $150 million with this move.

Musk’s reaction: the SEC must be eliminated. Elon Musk’s reaction upon hearing the news was immediate. In a message from his profile on X, the owner of the social network wrote: “Totally broken organization. They waste time on shit like this when there are so many real crimes that go unpunished.”

Alex Spiro, Elon Musk’s lawyer, sent a statement to the US media noting that “As the SEC withdraws and leaves office, its multi-year campaign of harassment against Mr. Musk culminated in the filing of a trivial complaint from a “I only charge under Section 13(d) for an alleged administrative failure to file a single form, a violation that, even if proven, carries a nominal penalty.”

The DOGE broom. The complaint from the stock market regulator comes just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration and shortly before the expected resignation of the president of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler. The incoming president has already appointed Paul Atkins, a fervent defender of cryptocurrencies, as his replacement.

The SEC, like NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other regulatory bodies in the aerospace, financial and mobility industries, have been a thorn in the side of Musk who, with This has already faced the securities market regulatory body on three occasions. One of the objectives of DOGE that has driven Donald Trump’s victory is to eliminate regulatory friction between these organizations and the millionaire’s business objectives.

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Imagen | Flickr (Trump White House Archived)