Twitter Claims Elon Musk Is Under Federal Investigation for Buyout Deal Shenanigans

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is under investigation by federal authorities, including the SEC and the FTC, over his conduct in seeking to acquire Twitter and then attempting to back out of the deal, according to court filings from the social media company.

Via Yahoo/Reuters:

While the filing said he was under investigations, it did not say what the exact focus of the probes was and which federal authorities are conducting them.

Twitter, which sued Musk in July to force him to close the deal, said attorneys for the Tesla Inc CEO had claimed “investigative privilege” when refusing to hand over documents it had sought.

In late September, Musk’s attorneys had provided a “privilege log” identifying documents to be withheld, Twitter said. The log referenced drafts of a May 13 email to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

A court in Delaware recently gave Musk until the end of the month to close an acquisition deal with Twitter if he wishes to avoid a court case, after the billionaire renewed his offer to buy the leftist tech platform for $54.20 a share.

Musk previously backed out of the deal, citing concerns over the stated number of bots on the platform, causing Twitter to sue Musk to go through with the acquisition.

The trial had been set to begin on October 17 — but the new ruling gives Musk some extra time to work things out with Twitter.

Twitter, for its part, accused Musk of delaying tactics to avoid a trial, saying the SpaceX and Tesla CEO refused to “commit to any closing date” when the offer was renewed.