SEC Investigation Escalates: Musk Faces Multiple Charges, Neuralink Under Reinvestigation
The long-standing confrontation between the SEC and Musk has escalated once again.
On December 12 local time, Musk's attorney Alex Spiro wrote to outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, accusing the agency of launching a "motivated action" against Musk and revealing that the SEC has restarted its investigation into Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink.
According to the letter, the SEC has demanded that Musk accept a settlement agreement and pay a fine within 48 hours, or he will face "multiple charges." These charges relate to Musk's stock investment activities prior to his acquisition of Twitter (now "X") in 2022, involving the legality of the timing of transactions and the disclosure of information. The letter mentions that the charges stem from a multi-year investigation, and the SEC has recently issued a subpoena to Musk's attorney, requiring him to provide testimony. Alex Spiro stated that he has explicitly refused to cooperate and accused the agency of having "political motives."
Musk also posted his attorney's letter to Gary Gensler on social media, captioned "Gary, how can you do this to me," along with a crying emoji.
Alex Spiro further requested clarification on who is directing the SEC's actions. He emphasized that the SEC's ongoing six-year "harassment" of Musk and his affiliated companies has deviated from its original intent of seeking the truth and has become an improper pressure tactic.
Currently, the SEC has not commented on this. Furthermore, the letter states that the SEC has also restarted its investigation into Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink.
This autumn, the animal rights group "Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine" and four U.S. Congress members had previously requested the SEC to investigate Neuralink, accusing it of engaging in securities fraud through misleading advertising.
