Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of SpaceX, has served a summons in connection with a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a court filing on Thursday. The lawsuit accuses Musk of failing to promptly disclose his acquisition of a big stake in X in 2022.
A process server delivered the civil summons and related legal documents on March 14 to a security guard at SpaceX’s headquarters in Brownsville, Texas. Musk is require to respond by April 4, per court records.
The SEC’s complaint, initially filed in January, alleges that Musk violated federal securities regulations by waiting 21 days, 11 days longer than permitted to disclose that he had acquired more than 5% of Twitter’s shares. Under SEC rules, investors must publicly report crossing the 5% threshold within 10 calendar days. It is a deadline that, in Musk’s case, would have been March 24, 2022.
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Experts believe that by delaying the disclosure, Musk may have benefited financially. As Twitter’s stock price remained lower than it might have been had the market been aware of his growing stake. The SEC has pursued similar cases in the past, arguing that such delays can create an unfair trading environment.
While Musk has not publicly commented on the summons, he has previously dismissed regulatory scrutiny of his actions as overreach. This latest legal battle adds to a growing list of disputes between the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and U.S financial authorities.
Notably, this lawsuit comes at a time when Musk is facing increased government investigation over his business ventures. This includes his role in the artificial intelligence race and SpaceX’s involvement in U.S. national security contracts. Analysts suggest that Musk’s legal battles could impact his ambitious plans for X. For this he envisions as an all-encompassing “everything app” integrating social media, payments, and AI-driven services.
