Can Musk Single-Handedly Capture A Regulator?
A relatively petty case against the multibillionaire may signal who is really running the country
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
The next time you get a traffic ticket, or suffer some other annoying enforcement action, go on X and insult the prosecuting authorities. See what that gets you. But then, you’re not Elon Musk – the nation’s oligarch in chief.
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the planet’s richest blowhard claiming that he failed to disclose his growing stake in Twitter as he amassed his winning stake in the social media platform in 2022.
Investors are required to file a disclosure form once they acquire more than 5% of a publicly traded company. It’s just one of the rules that govern our markets.
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Often, such disclosures send stock prices higher. And by not disclosing his stock position, Musk underpaid for additional Twitter shares by as much as $150 million, according to the SEC.
The SEC’s allegation is cut and dried. Musk either filed the form in a timely manner, or he didn’t. Most executives in this position would settle the case without admitting nor denying guilt, walk away with a tidy profit despite the settlement, and move forward into a world where it is all forgotten.
Instead of negotiating, Musk shit-posted on Twitter – which he has renamed X after acquiring it for $44 billion in 2022.
While we’re on the topic of totally broken organizations, have you seen X lately? What a cesspool of ignorant and childish blather. Respectable companies don’t want to advertise on the platform. I am ashamed to still be on it. And its value has dropped more than 70% since Musk bought it. But he doesn’t care. Given his net worth of about $438 billion, he doesn’t have to.
Musk, who spent $277 million getting Donald Trump and other Republicans elected, just loves laughing off the SEC. In November, he tweeted that the regulator can … well, see for yourself:
Maybe SEC should stand for Sack Elon’s Companies, but I don’t think that’s what Musk had churning in his boy-genius mind.
He’s been clashing with the regulator for years after settling an SEC charge during the first Trump administration for his allegedly misleading tweets about taking Tesla private.
Doesn’t the SEC know who he is? Now, that he’s been appointed head of a new Department of Government Efficiency, he will be in a position to suggest drastic cuts to the SEC’s budget.
In his parting speech this week, President Joe Biden warned about oligarchs who place themselves above the law:
“An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
Musk, who has moved into Trump’s Mara-a-Lago clubhouse, fits the profile.
He either settles with the SEC, which is how these cases are typically resolved, or the Trump administration makes it magically disappear.
“The new commission is going to be mindful of not wanting to appear to be doing the bidding of the president’s best buddy,” said David Rosenfeld, a former SEC enforcement attorney, told Politico.
Mindful? Oh yeah? We’ll see about that.
In any case, it’s quite a steaming pile of Musk that outgoing SEC chairman Gary Gensler has left for Paul Atkins, Trump’s pick for the job.
The case will be difficult for Atkins to dismiss, considering the observable facts on which it’s based. And if Atkins gives Musk any easy settlement, he’ll be signaling that Biden is right about who is really running the country.
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How many employees are there at Spacex, X, twitter, tesla, paypal, neural link, the boring company? Ask some of those employees if they enjoy getting a paycheck. Ask the spouses of those employees if they, the employees, should quit their high paying jobs because Elon is an a-hole. Anybody who can create jobs in this day and age is a mega-hero.
Socialists, by nature, are the most jealous creatures on earth.
Keep up the good work Al! You're doing more to bring some kind of morality back to America than most!