The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Tesla CEO Elon Musk with securities fraud, alleging he misled investors last month in tweets about taking the company private.
Musk tweeted August 7 that he had “funding secured” to privatize the electric automaker at $420 a share, causing a brief spike in Tesla’s share price.
The SEC said Musk’s statements on Twitter were “false and misleading” and that he had never discussed the plans with company officials or potential funders.
Musk later said he later decided against the plan.
But Musk quickly rejected the SEC’s allegations on Thursday, calling the charges baseless and vowing to defend himself.
