Billionaire Elon Musk has slammed the US market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over probes into Neuralink – a neurotechnology firm owned by the world’s richest man – and the purchase of Twitter shares. His lawyer Alex Spiro has flagged over “six years of harassment” by the Commission and its staff and demanded to know from the chief of the SEC, Gary Clenser, who had directed these actions – him or the White House.
“These tactics and misguided scheme will not intimidate us. We reserve all rights,” said a letter sent via Musk’s lawyer to Clenser, who has already been facing Team Trump’s wrath over his anti-crypto wrath. Sharing the letter on X, Musk said sarcastically, “Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?”
The letter said Musk had been served a settlement demand by the SEC staff, asking him to accept a monetary payment or face charges on numerous counts. It said the demand followed a directive from their superiors and that the charges would be brought imminently unless Musk accepted the demand.
The letter, however, did not mention what the charges may be and how they may impact companies owned by Elon Musk.
Musk said the SEC recently summoned him to record his testimony and threatened him with a process server if he did not cooperate. He said he “categorically refused”.
This week, a probe was opened into Neuralink, the letter said.
“This series of events makes (it) clear that the Commission is not motivated to seek the truth but instead is engaged in an improperly motivated campaign against Mr Musk and the individuals associated with him,” the letter said.
Clenser will step down as the SEC chief on January 20 with Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Trump had earlier said he would fire Clenser on his first day as President and end his administration’s “anti-crypto crusade”.
Musk, who earlier said he does not respect the SEC, has had a long history with the market regulator. In 2018, after Musk said he would take Tesla private but then admitted it would remain public, the SEC sued him over an online post stating he had “funding secured” to continue with the ownership move. Musk had paid $20 million to settle the case with the agency.
He had also stepped down as the chair of the Tesla board and agreed to have a lawyer supervise his posts on Twitter – a microblogging site that was later bought by him and went private.
