The Wall Street Journal is reporting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Elon and Kimbal Musk for insider trading.
Citing anonymous sources, the investigation is reportedly focused on trades made by Kimbal before his brother asked his Twitter followers on November 6 if he should sell 10% of his Tesla (TSLA) shares.
Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.
Do you support this?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2021
Kimbal, who is a Tesla board member, sold 88,500 shares at an average price of around $1,230, worth about $109 million, on November 5, one day before the infamous tweet.
“One question for regulators, according to securities lawyers, would be whether Mr. Musk told his brother about his upcoming tweet or about the timing of his sales before Kimbal Musk traded on Nov. 5—or if Kimbal Musk otherwise learned of the poll and then traded,” the report says.
On the first day of trading following Elon’s tweet, the stock fell as much as 7%, before ultimately closing down 5% for the day.
Since then, TSLA has plummeted and is currently trading at around $776 at the time of publication.
This report is just the latest battle between Elon and the SEC. Just yesterday the Tesla CEO claimed there is corruption inside the SEC, saying he has been building a case and that he “didn’t start the fight, but I will finish it.”
You can see Kimbal’s filing with the SEC on November 5, 2021 below.
000149473121000003-genDisclaimer: Darryn is a TSLA shareholder and has no plans to change positions within 72 hours.
