Musk reaches settlement with US SEC over Twitter use

San Francisco, April 27 (IANS) After weeks of negotiation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over his controversial Twitter activities, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has agreed to more specific oversight on his tweets about the company.According to the settlement reached between the two parties, all tweets from Musk about Tesla's financial health, sales or delivery numbers would have to be pre-approved by a company lawyer. The two sides filed late Friday to amend the settlement agreement reached last year over the 'funding secured' debacle, which originally prompted the SEC to attempt to install oversight over Musk's tweets, The Verge reported.Earlier in February, the SEC asked to hold Musk in contempt of court for allegedly violating a previous public disclosure settlement. Musk and the SEC spent the next few weeks filing scathing responses, with Musk saying the SEC was attempting an "unconstitutional power grab," and the agency saying the Tesla CEO was in "blatant violation" of the settlement, the report added.However, as per the new agreement, any written communication from Musk containing Tesla information regarding mergers, accusations, business expansion, credit facilities, future ventures and on several other confidential subjects have to be first discussed with the company lawyer before being disclosed to anybody. In addition, Friday's filing ensures that even though Musk would now be subject to oversight on a rash of specific topics related to Tesla, he would not need to have every off-handed tweet about the company approved -- an idea that the SEC had been advocating for a long time.Judge Nathan, who has presided over the case so far, still needs to approve the amendment.
--IANS rp/pg