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Elon Musk under investigation over the Twitter takeover deal

By Nithya Bose in Twitter/X News, posted October 15, 2022

Elon Musk is under a federal investigation related to the $44 billion Twitter takeover.

The social media company disclosed the probe in a court filing on Thursday, October 13.

It is unclear which authorities were investigating or what the inquiry was focused on.

Twitter's filing simply stated that officials are going into Musk's "conduct" in relation to the deal.

The firm said Musk's attorneys referenced "investigative privilege" when refusing to turn up requested documents.

It pointed out that the legal team didn’t produce draft communications with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission.

The SEC has previously grilled Musk’s statements about the Twitter buyout.

The agency later asked him in April why his 9 percent Twitter holding was disclosed late and why it represented that he planned to be a passive shareholder.

The world’s richest man then amended his statement to reflect that he was an active investor.

In a letter sent in June, the SEC questioned Musk if he should have modified his public filing to indicate his desire to halt or cancel the acquisition.

The SEC and FTC did not reply quickly to requests for comment.

Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro told Reuters that Twitter’s court filing was a “misdirection … It is Twitter’s executives that are under federal investigation.”

The San Francisco-based firm did not respond to Spiro's allegations.

When contacted by Reuters about the substance of the inquiry involving Musk, it has refused to comment.

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The filing comes as the months-long controversy surrounding the billionaire’s proposed Twitter acquisition continues.

The last few months have seen the billionaire proposing a takeover, backing out of the deal, and later getting sued by the social network giant for failing to keep his promise.

Musk's team then stated that he will proceed with the deal, only days before a trial to complete the purchase.

The Tesla CEO is reportedly in the process of arranging funds to complete the transaction.

Source: The Guardian

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