The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla Inc. chief executive Elon Musk on Thursday, accusing him of securities fraud for making a series of "false and misleading" tweets about potentially taking the electric car company private. Seeks to bar Musk from running public firmsThursday's lawsuit makes Musk one of the highest-profile executives to be accused by the SEC of securities fraud. Musk has long used Twitter to criticize short-sellers betting against his company, and several investor lawsuits have been filed against him and Tesla over the tweets. On Aug. 24, after news of the SEC probe had become known, Musk blogged that Tesla would remain public, citing investor resistance. Shares dropped as much as 10 per cent after Musk appeared smoking marijuana, drinking whisky and wielding a sword during a webcast.

Source: CBC News September 27, 2018 20:34 UTC