SEC Chair Voted Against Suing Elon Musk: Reuters

Acting Chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Mark Uyeda allegedly was the sole commissioner to vote against suing tech billionaire Elon Musk over his late disclosure of his stock in X (then Twitter), a Monday Reuters report claims.

Key Takeaways:

• Uyeda and four other SEC commissioners held a private vote on whether Musk should face legal action over his late Twitter stock disclosure.
• The SEC officially sued Musk on January 14 for failing to disclose his acquisition of over 5% of Twitter stock back in 2022.
• The SEC has eased its enforcement approach to crypto, dropping lawsuits against companies like Ripple, OpenSea, and Coinbase.

According to the article, Uyeda and four other commissioners from the federal regulator held a “closed-door” vote over whether Musk should face legal repercussions for violating U.S. securities law.

Uyeda’s fellow commissioners, including Hester Pierce, all voted for litigation against the Tesla CEO, whereas Uyeda strayed from the pack.

The SEC, which had been investigating Musk since 2022, formally filed a lawsuit against him on January 14.

“Musk failed to timely file with the SEC a beneficial ownership report disclosing his acquisition of more than five percent of the outstanding shares of Twitter’s common stock in March 2022, in violation of the federal securities laws,” the SEC complaint states.

“As a result, Musk was able to continue purchasing shares at artificially low prices, allowing him to underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his beneficial ownership report was due,” the lawsuit continues.

Musk’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump has sparked a slew of public speculation, with the controversial politician tapping the SpaceX founder to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

DOGE, which was designed to cut U.S. regulatory practices and government, has also garnered criticism for its role in the recent upheaval surrounding massive federal worker layoffs.

The SEC is facing its own exodus of employees, with reports indicating that hundreds of the commission’s workers are set to depart the agency.

Under the Trump administration, the SEC has significantly scaled back its regulation-by-enforcement approach to the crypto sector as a whole.

Highly-publicized lawsuits against key players in the crypto industry, including Ripple, OpenSea, and Coinbase, have since been dropped by the federal regulator.

It remains to be seen if Musk’s will be one of them.

The SEC allegedly sued Musk for failing to disclose his acquisition of over 5% of Twitter (now X) stock in a timely manner.

Uyeda was reportedly the only SEC commissioner to vote against suing Musk, breaking from his colleagues in the federal regulator’s closed-door vote.

Musk was appointed by President Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a move that has sparked speculation about his influence on regulatory decisions.

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