The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has repeatedly attacked Tesla CEO Elon Musk over tweets and other issues, and now it has another reason. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, disclosed on Monday that he had acquired a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, sending Twitter’s shares soaring 27 percent by Monday’s close.
Regulatory filings show that Musk had been accumulating Twitter common stock, which is a passive investment, until March 14. Passive investing refers to investing in but not participating in the operation of a company.
However, as required by the SEC, anyone acquiring more than 5% of a company’s common stock must disclose their holdings within 10 calendar days. Musk only signed his filing on April 4, 21 days after the March 14 filing date.
Historically, the SEC’s penalties for disclosure have been mild: typically around $100,000. According to Forbes, Musk’s net worth is about $300 billion. A fine of $100,000 equals 0.00003% of his property.