Elon Musk Under Federal Investigations Over Conduct in Takeover Deal, Says Twitter

Exact focus of the probes and which federal authorities are conducting them not known.

Elon Musk Under Federal Investigations Over Conduct in Takeover Deal, Says Twitter

Photo Credit: Reuters

McCormick has given Musk until October 28 to close the acquisition

Highlights
  • Twitter says Musk provided a privilege log of documents to withhold
  • A new trial date will be set in November if a deal is not done
  • Musk's attorney claims Twitter executives are under federal investigation
Advertisement

Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in his $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3.6 lakh crore) takeover deal for Twitter, the social media company said in a court filing released on Thursday.

While the filing said he was under investigations, it did not say what the exact focus of the probes was and which federal authorities are conducting them.

Twitter, which sued Musk in July to force him to close the deal, said attorneys for the Tesla CEO had claimed "investigative privilege" when refusing to hand over documents it had sought.

In late September, Musk's attorneys had provided a "privilege log" identifying documents to be withheld, Twitter said. The log referenced drafts of a May 13 email to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

"This game of 'hide the ball' must end," the company said in the court filing.

The court filing, which asked Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick to order Musk's attorneys to provide the documents, was made on October 6 - the same day that McCormick paused litigation between the two sides after Musk reversed course and said he would proceed with the deal.

Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, told Reuters that Twitter's court filing was a "misdirection" and asserted: "It is Twitter's executives that are under federal investigation."

Twitter declined to comment on Spiro's statement. It also declined comment when asked by Reuters about its understanding of any investigation into Musk.

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the FTC declined to comment.

The SEC has questioned Musk's comments about the Twitter acquisition, including whether a 9 percent stake he had built up before announcing his bid had been disclosed late and why it indicated that he intended to be a passive shareholder. Musk later refiled the disclosure to indicate he was an active investor.

In June, the SEC asked Musk in a letter whether he should have amended his public filing to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon the deal.

The Information, a tech news site, reported in April that the FTC was scrutinizing whether Musk failed to comply with the antitrust reporting requirement relating to an investor's intentions of being a passive or active shareholder.

Twitter said in June, however, that the takeover deal with Musk had cleared an antitrust waiting period for review by the FTC and U.S. Justice Department.

McCormick has given Musk until October 28 to close the acquisition. If the deal does not get done by then, a trial date will be set for November.

© Thomson Reuters 2022


5G is here. Should you buy a 4G phone? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Twitter, Elon Musk, Elon Musk Twitter
Apple Ordered to Pay BRL 100 Million Fine in Brazil, Must Sell iPhone Models With Charger
5G Technology in India Is Completely Indigenous, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Says
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »