Oh Gary, how could you: Elon Musk mocks US body amid Twitter stock investigation

Elon Musk reignited his ongoing dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by publishing a letter about X on Thursday, revealing that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had reopened its investigation into brain chip company Neuralink.

The company is known for developing devices that can be implanted into the human brain.

“Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?” Elon Musk addressed SEC Chairman Gary Gensler with a watery-eyed emoji in the post and said the following.

On December 12, in a letter written by Elon Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro to outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, it was claimed that the agency had given Musk a 48-hour ultimatum. The ultimatum demanded that Musk either accept a financial settlement or face legal charges related to the investigation into his $44 billion Twitter acquisition.

Following the acquisition, Musk rebranded Twitter as ‘X’. The letter did not specify the settlement amount proposed by the SEC.

Musk has a history of disputes with the SEC. In 2022, four lawmakers called for the agency to investigate whether Musk misled investors about the safety of a brain implant developed by neurotechnology company Neuralink. But it remains unclear how much progress the SEC might make in taking action against Musk.

According to the Reuters news agency, the billionaire entrepreneur who leads Tesla and SpaceX is expected to gain significant political influence. Various media reports suggest that Musk spent more than $250 million supporting Donald Trump’s November presidential election campaign. In such a political environment, companies are expected to face limited regulatory oversight. Additionally, Musk was appointed to a Trump-led task force aimed at restructuring the US government.

In his letter, Spiro stated that neither he nor Musk could be “intimidated” by the SEC, asserting their right to take legal action if necessary.

Separately, in November, a federal judge rejected the SEC’s request to penalize Musk after he missed court-ordered deposition related to the investigation into his acquisition of Twitter. The investigation sought to determine whether Musk violated securities laws during the 2022 deal.

Musk’s tensions with the SEC go back even further. In 2018, the commission sued him over tweets claiming he planned to privatize Tesla. That case was resolved after Musk paid a $20 million fine, agreed to have certain tweets reviewed by Tesla’s legal team, and resigned as chairman of Tesla.