Elon Musk Must Have Tesla Tweets Approved For Publication

Elon Musk agrees to a settlement with the US stock watchdog SEC, whereby he has his Twitter messages about Tesla pre-approved from now on. Musk has been in trouble in the past for tweets with incorrect information.

The deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission was reached Friday, after weeks of negotiations over Musk’s Twitter behavior. As a result of the settlement, the Tesla CEO must now first submit Twitter messages with stock-sensitive information about Tesla to a lawyer within the company. This is apparent from court documents that have been retrieved by The Verge, among others.

This includes information about the financial situation within Tesla, possible acquisitions or mergers and production numbers of cars. In addition, the board of directors within Tesla will be given the freedom to determine whether there are additional topics that Musk must request approval for publication.

With the settlement, Musk avoids further punishment from the SEC. He previously resigned as chairman of the board of Tesla after pressure from the SEC, because he tweeted about the delisting of Tesla and that he already had the financing for it. That turned out not to be the case in the end. Despite the settlement, Musk is not yet completely freed from legal problems; a group of shareholders has sued Tesla over the CEO’s Twitter behavior.