Two US federal authorities investigating Elon Musk over Twitter deal

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are investigating Elon Musk over the Twitter acquisition deal.

US federal authorities have been questioning Musk since April 2022 over some of his public filing regarding his investment position in Twitter and failure to update the disclosure.

According to Twitter in a court filing on Thursday, it had been demanding Musk provide his correspondence with the two federal authorities, but the billionaire had ignored the request.

Twitter had condemned the secrecy around the communications between Musk and the federal authorities, and demanded an end to it by using the Delaware court to force Musk’s attorney to provide the documents.

However, after months of requests, in September, Twitter took possession of a “privilege log”, which described documents that should be withheld from disclosure in litigation.

It was gathered that part of the communications with the two federal authorities included a slide presentation sent by Musk’s team to the Federal Trade Commission and an email sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 13.

READ ALSO: US court gives Elon Musk 22 days to close Twitter deal, billionaire slams firm

The US SEC had questioned if Musk disclosed his 9% stake in Twitter late, and wondered why he identified himself as a passive shareholder, considering he later offered to buy 100% of Twitter in April.

Although Musk later updated his profile as active investor from passive. But this line of questioning from SEC was done in April. Two months later, the capital market regulator asked Musk in a letter, in June, if his decision to suspend or terminate the $44 billion deal should have been updated into his public filing.

Ripples Nigeria had previously reported that Musk stated he was terminating the deal over abuse of contractual agreement on the part of Twitter. The social media company denied the Tesla CEO’s allegation.

The court has now given Musk until October 28, 2022, to acquire Twitter, or face a trial that will force him to acquire the firm, which might also lead to a fine.

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