Elon Musk Lobs New Criticism at SEC - The Wall Street Journal

Elon Musk told ‘60 Minutes’ he would keep tweeting, and would have Tesla Inc. review his posts only if they had potential to move stock prices. Photo: kyle grillot/Reuters

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Tim Higgins

The Wall Street Journal

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@timkhiggins
tim.higgins@wsj.com

Dec. 9, 2018 10:13 p.m. ET

Tesla Inc. TSLA -1.40% Chief Executive Elon Musk delivered a new barrage of criticism at the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying he doesn’t respect the agency and that his communications on Twitter haven’t been censored by the company.

Mr. Musk’s latest volley, in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, seemed to poke at his settlement with regulators. The terms of the agreement call for Tesla before the end of the month to have in place new oversight of his communications that might be considered material or cause movement of the company’s stock.

Last month, Mr. Musk stepped down as chairman of Tesla as part of his settlement with the SEC. The agency had claimed Mr. Musk misled investors when he tweeted in August that said he had secured funding to take the auto maker private. Tesla’s shares initially soared, only to plummet in subsequent days after it became clear Mr. Musk didn’t have a deal finalized.

The SEC had sought to have Mr. Musk banned from serving as a director or officer of any publicly traded company. In the end, he got to remain as CEO while stepping down as chairman for at least three years.

Mr. Musk told “60 Minutes” that since the settlement, none of his tweets have been censored—and no one is reading them before they go out.

“The only tweets that would have to be, say, reviewed would be if a tweet had a probability of causing a movement in the stock,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s ‘Hello, First Amendment’—like, freedom of speech is fundamental.”

Asked how Tesla would know if his tweets are going to move the company’s stock price if they aren’t being reviewed in advance, Mr. Musk suggested the company “might make some mistakes.”

“Nobody’s perfect,” the Tesla chief said, while laughing. He added, “I want to be clear, I do not respect the SEC.” Mr. Musk said he is abiding by the terms of the settlement “because I respect the justice system.”

Tesla said it is complying with the settlement, and has until Dec. 28 to put in place its communications policy. The SEC couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The billionaire entrepreneur has a long reputation of defying convention. He publicly feuded earlier this year with federal safety investigators over a fatal Tesla crash. In October, just days after reaching a settlement with the SEC, Mr. Musk appeared to mock the agency on Twitter, suggesting it was enriching investors betting against Tesla.

The “Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work,” Mr. Musk tweeted at the time. “And the name change is so on point!”

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