--- title: "SEC Threatens Elon Musk With Legal Action Over New Tweet" description: "Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is officially asking a federal judge to hold Tesla CEO Elon Musk in contempt for a recent tweet." date: "2019-02-26" modified: "2019-02-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/sec-threatens-elon-musk-with-legal-action-over-new-tweet" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "electric cars" - "elon musk" - "sec" - "tesla" --- # SEC Threatens Elon Musk With Legal Action Over New Tweet ![]() *\Image: Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images\* ## In Contempt According to documents filed yesterday in the Southern District of New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking a federal judge to hold Tesla CEO Elon Musk in contempt for a recent tweet, [*The Verge* reports](). The tweet in question: Last week, Musk said that Tesla was going to produce half a million cars in 2019. In a follow up posted roughly four and half hours later, Musk corrected himself, tweeting that he meant the "annualized production rate at the end of 2019" while total production is closer to 400,000 cars. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1098080063801585664 ## Troubled Past The news comes after Musk was [sued by the SEC]() in late September 2018 for tweeting that he planned to take Tesla private at [$420 per share]() in August. Tesla ended up [settling with the SEC]() in October, agreeing that Musk would step down as Tesla chairman for at least three years and that his tweets would be monitored. ## Broken But that monitoring system seems to have faltered. After SEC filed the documents yesterday, Musk [followed up in a tweet](): "SEC forgot to read Tesla earnings transcript, which clearly states 350k to 500k. How embarrassing..." It's not yet clear if Musk actually violated the agreement between Tesla and the SEC. *The Verge* suggested that Musk will likely be fined. Musk's opinion is clear on the matter. In a [response on Twitter](), he argued that Musk's Feb. 19 tweet didn't move markets. "This has now happened several times. Something is broken with SEC oversight." Shares of Tesla were down nearly 2.5 percent in premarket trading today, [*CNBC* reports](). **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk might be held in contempt of court over a Tesla tweet]() \[*The Verge*\] ***More on Tesla: Report:** [In Fatal Crash, Door Handles Fail on Burning Tesla]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()