Elon Musk has been forced to testify in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into his acquisition of social media platform Twitter, now renamed X, according to a court filing.
Judge Laurel Beeler upheld the SEC’s authority in the matter, saying the subpoena was intended to gather information relevant to the investigation.
“The court grants the SEC’s motion to enforce the subpoena: it seeks relevant information, and is otherwise valid,” the judge wrote.
The SEC and Musk must agree on a date and location for his testimony within a week.
Last year, the SEC took legal action against Musk for failing to comply with a subpoena served since May. The regulator was investigating potential securities fraud linked to Musk’s actions in 2022, particularly his stock purchases and accumulation of a stake in Twitter before the leveraged buyout.
At the time, the SEC said it needed Musk’s testimony to obtain information relevant to its legitimate and lawful investigation.
However, Musk criticized the SEC subpoena as harassment and advocated for comprehensive reform of regulatory agencies.
“A comprehensive review of [regulatory] There is definitely a need for agencies, along with a commission to take punitive action against those individuals who have abused their regulatory power for personal and political gain… I look forward to that,” Musk said.
Musk finalized the acquisition of Twitter in October 2022 for approximately $44 billion. Subsequently, it introduced various features with the intention of reshaping the platform into a multifunctional “everything app”.
Previous announcements have hinted at the launch of a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment system this year, although it is unclear whether cryptocurrencies will be involved in these developments.
