Elon Musk’s 4/20 joke got him sued for fraud

Elon Musk, 47-year-old founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, is being sued by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for deceiving investors. Several have sent an abysmal out tweet at least once in their lifetimes, but Musk’s joke about accepting Tesla private at $420 a share could get him removed by the business.

Am thinking of taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018

Musk sent the tweet out in an endeavor to create his girlfriend at the time laugh, and according to the lawsuit filed in New York federal court cited by the New York Times.  The SEC stated Musk rounded up the price from $419 to $420 to make a joke regarding marijuana culture in hopes of wringing a nod out of then-girlfriend, pop singer Grimes.  The connection between Musk and Grimes was seemingly short-lived.

The statement, made to his 22.7 million Twitter followers, also brought Tesla’s inventory to jump 6.4 per cent, according to WSJ. Musk immediately walked back his statement, but the harm was already done.  The very first trading day following Musk’s correction saw stocks plummet nearly 16 percent.

“According to Musk, he calculated the $420 price per share based on a 20% premium during this day’s final share price since he believed 20% was a ‘standard premium’ at going-private trade,” the suit states, according to Daily Mail. “This calculation resulted in a price of $419, and Musk said he rounded the price around $420 since he had learned about the amount ’s worth in marijuana culture and believed his girlfriend ‘would find it funny.’ ”

Musk claimed at a blog post in August he had solid reasoning supporting the tweet, stemming from a conversation with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth finance, which allegedly contributed financing the deal.

“This unjustified actions by the SEC leaves me profoundly saddened and disappointed,” Musk said in reaction to the litigation, according to Daily Mail.

Musk is considered a spokesperson for its brand, according to a Nov. 2013 filing by Tesla, according to WSJ. His tweets have elicited strong reactions from the public before, such as when he murdered British diver Vern Unsworth, who helped in rescuing the football team trapped at a Thai nest, of pedophilia, which also resulted in a lawsuit.

H/T Daily Mail

The post Elon Musk’s 4/20 joke got him sued for fraud appeared initially on The Daily Dot.

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