Tesla CEO Elon Musk asked a federal judge to end a settlement he reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018 regarding his Twitter posts concerning the automaker, claiming the current requirements are “unworkable” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Musk’s legal motion filed in Manhattan federal court argued the requirement that his Twitter posts must be approved has led to “round after round of demands for voluminous, costly document productions, with no signs of abatement.”
“The settlement, which required Musk to step down as the chair of Tesla, pay a $20 million fine and get pre-approval for all of his tweets about the company, has generated friction between the billionaire and federal regulators,” according to Axios.
“After Musk said on Twitter in 2018 that he wanted to take Tesla private, the SEC — which is charged with regulating public markets — reached a settlement with the billionaire entrepreneur in order to limit his social media use related to Tesla. However, the SEC has not distributed the $40 million in collected fines to shareholders and continues to subpoena Tesla regarding Musk’s social media use, according to a filing earlier this week,” The Daily Wire previously noted.
The settlement has also led to the SEC accusing Musk of violating the agreement over tweets about Tesla since the settlement agreement.
Musk has filed a separate previous motion to dispute the 2018 fraud lawsuit. “I never lied to shareholders. I would never lie to shareholders. I entered into the consent decree for the survival of Tesla, for the sake of its shareholders,” Musk wrote in the motion.
The motion could be significant, as Musk has been increasingly outspoken regarding world events in recent weeks. For example, the Tesla founder recently noted his support for the U.S. to increase oil and gas production.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz joined in agreement with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s viral Twitter post that America needs to increase oil and gas output “immediately.”
Cruz took to Twitter on Saturday to support Musk’s statement, saying, “Couldn’t agree more! Unleash American energy NOW!”
Couldn't agree more! Unleash American energy NOW! https://t.co/2VHclbkeSS
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 5, 2022
Musk was recently praised for responding to the Ukrainian government’s plea to provide SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service so that Ukrainians could access the internet after Russian military forces invaded the country. The Daily Wire reported:
Musk made the remark on social media in response to a tweet from Mykhailo Fedorov, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, who tweeted: “@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”
“Starlink service is now active in Ukraine,” Musk responded. “More terminals en route.”
Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine: “Starlink terminals are coming to Ukraine! Thank you @elonmusk , thank you everyone, who supported Ukraine!”
The effort also led to a phone call between Musk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the president thanking Musk for providing Starlink satellite services and inviting him to visit the nation once the invasion ends.