Elon Musk says nobody approves their tweets after the SEC decision
Elon Musk does not respect the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), he said in an interview with CBS 60 minutes sent Sunday evening.
Musk told CBS Lesley Stahl that none of his tweets have been censored since he reached a settlement with the SEC in September. He said no one must read tweets before he hits the send. He also explained that he had personally chosen his successor as Tesla's chairman before underestimating his authority by saying that he could "get something done as I want."
The Tesla CEO announced in a tweet this August that he wanted to take his electric car company privately and that he had "funding secured" from Saudi Arabia's state fund. The-hip announcement sent Tesla's share price up. When it became apparent that Musk did not have an agreement in place, the SEC found a survey and quickly sent a security fraud lawsuit against Musk over the tweet.
Two days later, Musk obtained a settlement with the agency requiring him to pay a fine of $ 20 million, descending as Tesla's leader, mentioning two new independent board members to the board and installing oversight of his public communications about the company – including his tweets.
"The only tweets that might be said would be if a tweet had a likelihood of moving on the stock [price]," Musk said to Stahl. "Otherwise it's," hello, first change. "Like freedom of expression is fundamental."
The language of the settlement that he signed in September states that he must:
comply with all mandatory procedures implemented by Tesla, Inc. ("Company") regarding (i) the audit of communications related to the Company made in any format including , but not limited to, posts on social media (such as Twitter), the company's website (such as the Company's blog), press releases and investor calls, and (ii) prior approval of such written communications that contain or may reasonably contain information material to the company or its shareholders.
That language does not say every tweet he crafts must be run by a lawyer – only those who may affect the market. In theory, Musk is free to tweet " I [black heart emoji] anime " without consulting one of Tesla's lawyers.
But unless someone is screening every tweet Musk will send, it's hard to say that Market Tweets will all be properly discovered before they are published. The insurance SEC wanted to be put into place, then seems to be entirely dependent on him.
Stahl squeezed Musk on this potential gap in the logic, and Musk laughed at it before taking a direct shot at the SEC. Here's the full exchange:
STAHL: "But how do they know if it's going to move on the market if they do not read them all before you send them?"
MUSK: "Well, suppose we might make some mistakes. Who knows?"
STAHL: "Are you serious?"
MUSK: "Nobody is perfect." [Laughs.]
STAHL: "See on you. "
MUSK:" I will be done, I do not respect the SEC. I do not respect them. "
STAHL:" But you are occupied by the settlement, right? "
MUSK: "Because I respect the judicial system."
Later in the interview, Musk was asked about the company's new chairman, Robyn Denholm, who replaced him as part of the settlement. "The impression was that [Denholm] was inserted to look at you," said Stahl. Usually, the leader of a board works to act as CEO.
"It's not realistic, in the sense that I'm the biggest shareholder in the company, and I can only call the shareholder vote and get something done as I want," said Black Musk.
Stahl did not ask Musk about that part of the settlement which imposed him to pay a $ 20 million fine due to his tweets from August. But when asked about the fine October, he said – on Twitter, of course, they paid that the money was "worth it."
