he wrote on Twitter that the sale would go to
pay tax obligations on stock options. Analysts
estimate his tax obligation at $10 billion to
$15 billion.
So far he has sold more than 15 million shares
worth roughly $16.4 billion. With some sales in
late December, Musk is close to selling 10%.
In a motion filed in February with the U.S.
District Court in Manhattan, Spiro contends that
the subpoena of Musk has no basis in law. He
also says the SEC can’t take action about Musk’s
tweets without court authorization.
The whole dispute stems from an October 2018
agreement in which Musk and Tesla each agreed
to pay $20 million in civil fines over Musk’s
tweets about having the money to take Tesla
private at $420 per share.
The funding was far from secured and the
electric vehicle company remains public, but
Tesla’s stock price jumped. The settlement
specified governance changes, including
Musk’s ouster as board chairman, as well as pre-
approval of his tweets.
Spiro’s motion asks Nathan to scrap the
agreement, alleging the SEC is using it and
“near limitless resources” to chill Musk’s speech.
It says that Musk signed the agreement when
Tesla was a less mature company and SEC action
jeopardized the company’s financing.
A message was left seeking comment from Spiro.
The SEC is asking Judge Alison Nathan to deny
Musk’s motion to throw out part of the agency’s
subpoena and get rid of the 2018 agreement.
Spiro has asked for verbal arguments in the case.