The SEC is officially investigating Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal for alleged insider trading.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the investigation hinges on the accusation that Musk and his brother have violated insider trading regulations on recent Tesla share sales. Officials are have indicated that they are concerned Elon told his brother ahead of time that he would be taking to Twitter, like he so often does, to ask his followers about selling the Tesla stock. The conversation may have led Kimbal to sell 88,500 shares just a day before Elon sent out the tweet on November 6. If this is the case, then the CEO would have broken the rules that barr employees from trading on privately disclosed information.
The SEC filing also showed a discrepancy in Kimbals’ trading habits. Kimbal, who often traded Tesla stocks regularly under a particular plan, did not do so on November 5. This is not the first time Elon has been under investigation by the SEC over his tweets. The feud between himself and the SEC began in 2018 when the government took action against the CEO for tweets about taking Tesla private. In the past, Elon has publically called out the SEC on its various investigations even going as far as accusing the regulator of imposing a “harassment campaign” on him.
It remains to be seen how this situation will unfold.
Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.
Do you support this?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021
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