The SEC said Musk did not disclose his stake until April 4, 2022, 11 days after the deadline, by which time he owned more than 9% of Twitter’s shares.
The SEC wants Musk — who has since rebranded Twitter to X — to pay a civil fine and disgorge profits he was not entitled to.
“For the SEC staff to recommend that the Commission authorize a litigated action to seek over $263 million in monetary relief in a case in which the staff acknowledges that they are not alleging intent, willfulness, or investor harm is inherently improper and punitive,” Spiro alleged in the Dec. 27 letter.
“Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?” Musk wrote in the Dec. 12 post.
In a complaint filed in Washington, DC, federal court, the SEC said the delay allowed Musk to continue buying Twitter shares at artificially low prices, allowing him to underpay by at least $150 million.
However, he did acknowledge that the $263 million penalty would be consistent if there was a fraud component to the case.
Spiro admitted that Musk was late with the so-called 13(d) filing to the SEC, according to his letter.
The Wall Street sheriff had approached the world’s richest man with a take-it-or-leave-it settlement offer to pay an eye-popping $263 million in early December, giving Musk 48 hours to respond, sources close to the situation told The Post.
With Post wires
Musk eventually purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, and renamed it X.
An SEC rule requires investors like Musk to disclose within 10 calendar days when they cross a 5% ownership threshold.
“I don’t care if they are charging Elon Musk or Santa Claus that is an extraordinary amount.”
