Elon Musk Faces U.S. Contempt Claim for Violating SEC Accord

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked a judge to hold Elon Musk in contempt for violating last year’s settlement with the agency, raising new a round of regulatory issues for the embattled Tesla Inc. CEO.

The SEC claimed on Monday that a Feb. 19 tweet by Musk violated the settlement when he wrote that “Tesla made 0 cars in 2011, but will make around 500k in 2019.”

The settlement with the agency required him to seek pre-approval from the company for social media posts and other written communication that would be material to the company or investors.

“He once again published inaccurate and material information about Tesla to his over 24 million Twitter followers, including members of the press, and made this inaccurate information available to anyone with Internet access,” the SEC said in court papers filed in Manhattan federal court.

Tesla shares plunged as much as 5.4 percent as of 6:30 p.m. Monday in New York. The stock was already down 10 percent this year through the close of regular trading.