Why Musk's tweets expose Tesla to potential shareholder and regulatory claims

The perils of disclosing sensitive information via social media

clock • 3 min read

Elon Musk has proved once again that 280 characters are more than enough to generate PR - and now, potentially legal - troubles for himself and Tesla.

On 7 August, Musk announced what would in effect be the largest-ever corporate buyout by stating on Twitter that he was "considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured".  Within one week, these few characters spawned three separate shareholder suits against Musk and Tesla asserting securities law claims. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also is reportedly investigating Musk and Tesla based on the content of the tweet. Whether funding for the proposed transaction was in fact "secured" is at the core of the shareholder lawsuits and, presumably, the SEC inquiry....

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