A judge’s signature has seemingly put to rest the latest dust-up between Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission, though it appears not everyone is happy about that.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan on Tuesday approved the terms of an updated settlement between the Tesla (TSLA) CEO and the government that gives Musk a list of topics he is no longer allowed to write about—which basically means “tweet”—without first checking with a company lawyer.
That list includes company financials, earnings, guidance and production and delivery numbers. (We shared the full list on Friday.)
Nathan’s approval became official with an order issued on Wednesday. But SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson, a 2018 appointee of President Trump, distributed a “dissenting statement” Tuesday night suggesting that he thought the government let Musk off easy.
Neither Tesla nor Jackson immediately replied to Barron’s request for further comment.
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The SEC had argued that Musk’s February tweets about production estimates amounted to contempt of the 2018 settlement with the SEC he signed after making statements on Twitter about possibly taking the company private. Musk, in response, said he was being punished because the settlement was too vague.
The revised settlement was meant to remove confusion about Musk’s responsibilities—which Jackson, in his statement, found unsatisfactory. It didn’t lead to any further penalties; the original settlement came with fines and the removal of Musk from Tesla’s chairmanship.
“Those who settle cases with the SEC must be held to the bargain they struck,” Jackson wrote. “Given Mr. Musk’s conduct, I cannot support a settlement in which he does not admit what is crystal clear to anyone who has followed this bizarre series of events: Mr. Musk breached the agreement he made last year with the Commission—and with American investors.”
Shares of Tesla were down 2.3% to $233.19 near midday, while the S&P 500 was little changed, perhaps in part because Jackson’s note indicates that some regulators aren’t happy with how the case was resolved.
Other factors likely contributed to the pullback, however, including a New York Times report saying the company is cutting prices on its residential solar equipment and coverage of a lawsuit against Tesla filed by a man whose family alleges that he died in a crash caused by the failure of his car’s navigation system.
Email David Marino-Nachison at david.marino-nachison@barrons.com. Follow him at @marinonachison and follow Barron’s Next at @barronsnext.
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