Elon Musk under federal investigation

Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities for his conduct in his $44 billion takeover deal for Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), the social media company said in a court filing on Thursday.

While the filing said Musk was under investigation, it did not specify what the exact focus of the investigations was and which federal authorities were conducting them. Twitter, which sued Musk in July to force him to make the deal, said the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc CEO claimed "investigative privilege" when refusing to provide documents requested by his lawyers. Twitter said in late September that Musk's lawyers provided a "privilege log" identifying documents to be withheld. The log included drafts of an email sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 13 and a slide presentation submitted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). "This game of 'hiding the ball' must end," the company said in its court filing. The court filing asking Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick (NYSE:MKC) to order Musk's lawyers to turn over the documents was filed on October 6 - the same day McCormick halted litigation between the two sides after Musk changed course and said he would continue with the deal. Alex Spiro, one of Musk's lawyers, told Reuters that Twitter's court filing was a "misdirection" and claimed that "it is Twitter's executives who are under federal investigation." Twitter declined to comment on Spiro's statement. It also declined to comment when asked by Reuters what it understood by any investigation into Musk. The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the FTC also declined to comment. The SEC questioned Musk's comments on the Twitter acquisition, including whether the 9% stake he built up before announcing his offer was disclosed late and why he indicated he intended to be a passive shareholder. Musk later refilled the disclosure to state that he was an active investor. In June, the SEC asked Musk in a letter whether he should amend his public disclosure to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon the deal. The Information, a tech news site, reported in April that the FTC was examining whether Musk had complied with the antitrust reporting requirement regarding an investor's intent to become a passive or active shareholder. However, Twitter announced in June that the takeover deal with Musk had passed the antitrust waiting period for review by the FTC and the US Department of Justice. McCormick gave Musk until October 28 to complete the acquisition. If the deal is not finalized by then, a hearing date will be set for November. Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!