Elon Musk received additional time to answer the civil lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding his delayed disclosure of his large Twitter stock ownership. The SEC and Musk jointly submitted a court document which extended his response deadline to August 29 instead of the original July 18 date.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Musk because he delayed revealing his ownership threshold exceeding 5% which allowed him to purchase $500 million worth of Twitter shares at reduced prices in 2022. Musk acquired the platform in its entirety and renamed it to X.
The regulators claim Musk delayed his disclosure which resulted in misleading investors and giving him an unfair advantage. The lawsuit demands the recovery of profits together with a civil penalty. The SEC has not made any additional statements about the matter and Musk has not issued any public comments.
Both parties have requested two delays in the proceedings because they want to minimize judicial expenses. The case joins numerous other legal challenges Musk faces regarding securities rules and public disclosure oversight.
The decision will determine the level at which the SEC will enforce ownership disclosure requirements for prominent investors.
