Tesla's Elon Musk Loses "Twitter Sitter" Battle In Court

You win some, you lose some. This should become Tesla CEO Elon Musk's motto these days, as it seems he's constantly in court. Moreover, it seems he often wins even if it's not expected, and loses on many occasions as well. This recent "Twitter Sitter" ruling marks another setback for Musk, and it's especially ironic that he just agreed to buy Twitter.

According to an article published by Automotive News, a New York judge decided this week that Elon Musk can't end his earlier agreement with the SEC. The agreement basically states that the CEO must have his tweets reviewed by an "in-house" officer in case there's a chance they contain material information that could impact the stock market and/or potentially manipulate investors.

The same judge also ruled against Musk's attempt to block an SEC subpoena. The SEC hopes to learn more about how Tesla handles public disclosures.

While we figure most people are at least somewhat aware of the whole story, it only makes sense to provide a little background. Essentially, Musk tweeted that he was planning to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and he added that he had the "funding secured." The SEC got involved and ruled that Musk would have to have his tweets approved prior to publishing them.

More recently, Musk said in an interview – and he's also tweeted on the topic – that the SEC left him no choice but to agree with its decision or face Tesla's imminent failure. He insists that the organization was well aware that funding was, in fact, secured, at least based on Musk's version of the story.

The CEO is basically saying he was coerced, and now he wants to expose the SEC's corruption. Musk has also said the SEC is just trying to take away his right to free speech. 

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman sided with the SEC. He wrote:

“Musk cannot now seek to retract the agreement he knowingly and willingly entered by simply bemoaning that he felt like he had to agree to it at the time but now -- once the specter of the litigation is a distant memory and his company has become, in his estimation, all but invincible -- wishes that he had not,”  in Manhattan wrotes in his opinion."

See These Elon Musk Articles For Background:

Judge Rules Elon Musk Was Lying In "Taking Tesla Private" Tweets

SEC Says Tesla's Musk Should Have To Follow Agreement About Tweets

If Musk actually follows through with buying Twitter, it will be interesting that the company's owner isn't supposed to tweet on the platform without approval. However, we may be waiting a long time to see how that all plays out.

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