Personal and business legal affairs of Elon Musk

This article is part of
a series about
Elon Musk
Personal
Companies
Politics
In popular culture
Related

The personal and business legal affairs of Elon Musk encompass the legal cases involving businessman Elon Musk as the plaintiff, defendant, or concerning his companies.

SEC and shareholder lawsuits regarding tweets

In 2018, Musk was sued by the SEC for a tweet stating that funding had been secured for potentially taking Tesla private. The lawsuit characterized the tweet as false, misleading, and damaging to investors, and sought to bar Musk from serving as CEO of publicly traded companies. Two days later, Musk settled with the SEC, without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations. As a result, Musk and Tesla were fined $20 million each, and Musk was forced to step down for three years as Tesla chairman but was able to remain as CEO. Shareholders filed a lawsuit over the tweet, and in February 2023, a jury found Musk and Tesla not liable. Musk has stated in interviews that he does not regret posting the tweet that triggered the SEC investigation.

In 2019, Musk stated in a tweet that Tesla would build half a million cars that year. The SEC reacted by asking a court to hold him in contempt for violating the terms of the 2018 settlement agreement. A joint agreement between Musk and the SEC eventually clarified the previous agreement details, including a list of topics about which Musk needed preclearance. In 2020, a judge blocked a lawsuit that claimed a tweet by Musk regarding Tesla stock price ("too high imo") violated the agreement. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)-released records showed that the SEC concluded Musk had subsequently violated the agreement twice by tweeting regarding "Tesla's solar roof production volumes and its stock price".

Tham Luang cave rescue and defamation case

Further information: Tham Luang cave rescue

In July 2018, Musk arranged for his employees to build a mini-submarine to assist the rescue of children trapped in a flooded cavern in Thailand. Richard Stanton, leader of the international rescue diving team, encouraged Musk to facilitate the construction of the vehicle as a backup in case flooding worsened. However, Stanton concluded that the mini-submarine would not work and said that Musk's involvement "distracted from the rescue effort". Engineers at SpaceX and the Boring Company built the mini-submarine from a Falcon 9 liquid oxygen transfer tube in eight hours and personally delivered it to Thailand. Thai authorities ultimately declined to use the submarine, stating that it was not practical for the rescue mission. In March 2019, Musk was one of the 187 people who received various honors conferred by the King of Thailand for involvement in the rescue effort.

Soon after the rescue, Vernon Unsworth, a British recreational caver who had been exploring the cave for the previous six years and played a key advisory role in the operation, criticized the submarine on CNN as amounting to nothing more than a public relations effort with no chance of success, maintaining that Musk "had no conception of what the cave passage was like" and "can stick his submarine where it hurts". Musk asserted on Twitter that the device would have worked and referred to Unsworth as a "pedo guy". He then deleted the tweets, apologized, and deleted his responses to critical tweets from Cher Scarlett, a software engineer, which had caused his followers to harass her. In an email to BuzzFeed News, Musk later called Unsworth a "child rapist" and said that he had married a child.

In September, Unsworth filed a defamation suit seeking $190 million in damages. In his defense, Musk argued that "'pedo guy' was a common insult used in South Africa when I was growing up ... synonymous with 'creepy old man' and is used to insult a person's appearance and demeanor." During the trial Musk apologized to Unsworth again for the tweet. In December 2019, the jury ruled that Musk was not liable.

Further information: List of lawsuits involving Tesla, Inc. and Criticism of Tesla, Inc.

In May 2022, Business Insider cited an anonymous friend of an unnamed SpaceX contract flight attendant, alleging that Musk engaged in sexual misconduct in 2016. The source stated that in November 2018, Musk, SpaceX, and the former flight attendant entered into a severance agreement granting the attendant a $250,000 payment in exchange for a promise not to sue over the claims. Musk responded, "If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light." He accused the article from Business Insider of being a "politically motivated hit piece". After the release of the article, Tesla's stock fell by more than 6%, and Barron's wrote of the fall that "some investors considered key-man risk – the danger that a company could be badly hurt by the loss of one individual."

In April 2023, the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands sought to subpoena Musk for documents in a lawsuit alleging that JPMorgan Chase profited from Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation. The efforts to subpoena Musk for documents do not implicate him in any wrongdoing and do not seek to have Musk testify under oath.

Musk's former girlfriend Grimes filed a parental relationship petition in late September 2023 as part of a custody dispute. The petition came a month after Grimes openly accused him in a social media post of blocking her access to the youngest of their three children. On July 27, 2024, Grimes' mother accused Musk of withholding the passports of her grandchildren.

Ben Brody, a 22-year-old Los Angeles-based college graduate, initiated a defamation lawsuit in October 2023 against Musk for over $1 million. He alleged Musk had falsely identified him as a participant "in a violent street brawl on behalf of a neo-Nazi extremist group" near Portland, Oregon. According to Brody's complaint, one of Musk's X posts promoted conspiracy theories that "Ben Brody's alleged participation in the extremist brawl meant the incident was probably a 'false flag' operation to deceive the American public". The complaint also alleged that Musk's accusations led to Brody and his family being subjected to harassment and threats. In February 2024, Musk was ordered to testify in a deposition for the lawsuit. In the deposition, Musk denied knowing who was suing him and admitted to doing no research on whether his claims were true. Musk attempted to keep the deposition from being made public.

In October 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Musk over his refusal to testify a third time in an investigation into whether he violated federal law by purchasing Twitter stock in 2022. Musk claimed the SEC was harassing him. In February 2024, Judge Laurel Beeler ruled that Musk must testify again. In January 2025, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Musk for securities violations related to his purchase of Twitter.

In January 2024, Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled in a 2018 lawsuit that Musk's $55 billion pay package from Tesla be rescinded. McCormick called the compensation granted by the company's board "an unfathomable sum" that was unfair to shareholders. In response to the ruling, Musk posted on X: "Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware." A re-ratification shareholders' vote passed in mid-June 2024, although much follow-up litigation is expected, including a lawsuit filed by a Tesla investor beforehand that alleged Musk employed "coercive tactics" to move the vote in his favor.

In June 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported Musk had a "romantic relationship" with a former intern at SpaceX, confirmed with affidavits supplied by the intern's lawyers who also represent Musk, and alleged that he had sexual relations with a woman who directly reported to him there. The article further alleges he also pursued sex with other SpaceX employees, and repeatedly asked an employee who reported directly to him to "have his babies". In the same month, eight ex-employees, the same eight who were previously fired for penning an anti-Musk letter at SpaceX, filed a lawsuit against Musk alleging sexual harassment.

Also in June 2024, a former Twitter executive sued Musk for "cheating" him and other ousted executives out of $200 million in severance pay.

In August 2024, Musk sued advertisers for a boycott of X (formerly Twitter). Later that month, Olympic boxer Imane Khelif filed a lawsuit for cyber harassment against X over alleged "acts of aggravated cyber harassment", in which Musk was named.

In October 2024, Musk and his America PAC were sued in Pennsylvania for allegedly operating an unlawful lottery before the 2024 US presidential election. In November 2024, he was sued again regarding the lottery and two US senators called for a probe into alleged contacts with Vladimir Putin.

Notes

  1. ^ Musk stated he was considering taking Tesla private at a price of $420 a share, an alleged reference to marijuana. Members of Tesla's board and rapper Azealia Banks alleged that Musk may have been under the influence of recreational drugs when he wrote the tweet.

References

  1. ^ a b Goldstein, Matthew (September 27, 2018). "S.E.C. Sues Tesla's Elon Musk for Fraud and Seeks to Bar Him From Running a Public Company". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  2. ^ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (September 28, 2018). "SEC says Musk chose $420 price for Tesla shares because it's a pot reference". CNBC. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  3. ^ Swisher, Kara (August 23, 2018). "How and Why Silicon Valley Gets High". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Woodyard, Chris (August 30, 2018). "Elon Musk's tweet on taking Tesla private now dogged by drugs claim from rapper Azealia Banks". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  5. ^ Patnaik, Subrat; Kalia, Shubham (September 28, 2018). "Factbox – 'Funding secured': SEC gives timeline surrounding tweet from Tesla's Musk". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 23, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  6. ^ O'Kane, Sean; Lopatto, Elizabeth (September 27, 2018). "Elon Musk sued by SEC for securities fraud". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  7. ^ "Elon Musk forced to step down as chairman of Tesla, remains CEO". The Verge. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  8. ^ Brodkin, Jon (April 18, 2022). "Musk keeps falsely claiming 'Funding secured' tweet was accurate, judge is told". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  9. ^ Godoy, Jody; Jin, Hyunjoo (February 3, 2023). "Tesla's Elon Musk found not liable in trial over 2018 'funding secured' tweets". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  10. ^ "Tesla's Elon Musk says tweet that led to $20 million fine 'Worth It'". Reuters. October 27, 2018. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  11. ^ Youn, Soo; Katersky, Aaron (October 11, 2018). "Elon Musk commits to SEC settlement despite mocking tweets". ABC News. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  12. ^ Ohnsman, Alan (February 25, 2019). "Elon Musk's Tesla Tweet Puts CEO Role at Risk Again". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  13. ^ Wattles, Jackie (April 27, 2019). "Elon Musk and SEC reach an agreement over tweeting". CNN Business. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  14. ^ Marino-Nachison, David (April 26, 2019). "Tesla CEO Elon Musk Gets a Long Do-Not-Tweet List From the SEC". Barron's. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  15. ^ Bursztynsky, Jessica (May 1, 2020). "Tesla shares tank after Elon Musk tweets the stock price is 'too high'". CNBC. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  16. ^ "Court Rules That No One Can Stop Elon Musk From Tweeting Tesla News—For Now". The Observer. May 20, 2020. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  17. ^ Elliott, Dave; Michaels, Rebecca (June 2, 2021). "WSJ News Exclusive: Tesla Failed to Oversee Elon Musk's Tweets, SEC Argued in Letters". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Lee, Timothy B. (July 10, 2018). "Thai official: Elon Musk's submarine "not practical for this mission" [Updated]". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  19. ^ Wong, Julia Carrie (December 5, 2019). "Elon Musk trial: Vernon Unsworth says entrepreneur's tweets 'humiliated' him". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  20. ^ Ferris, Robert (July 10, 2018). "Elon Musk says his 'mini-submarine' can be used for other things". CNBC. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  21. ^ "Tested for Thailand, SpaceX's makeshift mini-sub could serve as space escape pod". GeekWire.com. July 8, 2018. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  22. ^ "Why was Elon Musk at the Thai cave rescue?". July 10, 2018. Archived from the original on August 25, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Thai king confers awards on two Australian divers for rescue of cave boys". Reuters. April 19, 2019. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  24. ^ a b Levin, Sam (July 15, 2018). "Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue a 'pedo' in baseless attack". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  25. ^ Browne, Ryan (July 18, 2020). "Elon Musk apologizes to British cave diver following baseless 'pedo guy' claim". CNBC. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  26. ^ Klepper, David (April 27, 2022). "What Elon Musk's own tweets reveal about Twitter's next owner—and his plans for the company". Fortune. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  27. ^ Smith, Adam (April 4, 2022). "The strangest things Elon Musk has ever done on Twitter". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  28. ^ Paul, Kari (October 9, 2019). "Elon Musk claims his investigator tricked him about diver he called a 'pedo'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  29. ^ Wong, Julia Carrie (December 4, 2019). "Elon Musk: pedo guy insult was 'not classy' but not meant literally". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020.
  30. ^ "Elon Musk sued for libel by British Thai cave rescuer". BBC News. September 17, 2018. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  31. ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (September 17, 2018). "British diver sues Elon Musk for $75,000 over 'pedo' claim". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  32. ^ Mak, Aaron (December 4, 2019). "Elon Musk Says 'Pedo Guy' Was a Common Insult in His Youth. We Checked With His Schoolmates". Slate. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  33. ^ Kolodny, Lora (December 6, 2019). "Elon Musk found not liable in 'pedo guy' defamation trial". CNBC. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  34. ^ Groom, Nichola; Parsons, Rachel (December 6, 2019). "Tesla boss Elon Musk wins defamation trial over his 'pedo guy' tweet". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  35. ^ McHugh, Rich (May 19, 2022). "A SpaceX flight attendant said Elon Musk exposed himself and propositioned her for sex, documents show. The company paid $250,000 for her silence". Insider. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  36. ^ Mangan, Dan (May 20, 2022). "Report says SpaceX paid woman over Musk sex misconduct claim – he denies 'wild accusations'". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  37. ^ "Musk denies he sexually harassed flight attendant; Tesla shares sink". Reuters. May 20, 2022. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  38. ^ Assis, Claudia (May 20, 2022). "Tesla stock's very bad week gets worse after the allegations against Musk". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  39. ^ Root, Al (May 20, 2022). "Tesla Stock Falls After Harassment Allegations Against CEO". Barron's. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  40. ^ a b Hals, Tom (May 16, 2023). "Elon Musk documents subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit by US Virgin Islands". Reuters. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  41. ^ Vaziri, Aidin (October 3, 2023). "Grimes sues Elon Musk over parental rights: 'Utterly ripping my family apart'". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  42. ^ "Grimes sues Elon Musk over parental rights". NBC News. October 3, 2023. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  43. ^ Ingram, David (July 27, 2024). "Grimes' mother says Elon Musk is 'withholding' the couple's 3 children from family trip". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  44. ^ a b c Belanger, Ashley (October 2, 2023). "College student sues Musk for falsely calling him a "psyop" in neo-Nazi brawl". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  45. ^ a b Madani, Doha (October 2, 2023). "Elon Musk sued for libel by man falsely identified in neo-Nazi brawl". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  46. ^ Skipworth, William (October 2, 2023). "Elon Musk Sued For Falsely Linking Man To Neo-Nazi Group—And Federal Agency". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  47. ^ O'Sullivan, Donie; Ash, Audrey (November 21, 2023). "Far-right conspiracy theorists accused a 22-year-old Jewish man of being a neo-Nazi. Then Elon Musk got involved". CNN. Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  48. ^ Murdock, Sebastian (February 28, 2024). "Elon Musk Ordered To Testify In Lawsuit For Falsely Linking Jewish Man To Neo-Nazi Brawl". HuffPost. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  49. ^ Belanger, Ashley (April 9, 2024). "Elon Musk denies knowing who's suing him to dodge defamation suit". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  50. ^ "Elon Musk Didn't Want His Latest Deposition Released. Here It Is". HuffPost. April 8, 2024. Archived from the original on April 16, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  51. ^ a b Brodkin, Jon (October 6, 2023). "Musk refused to testify in Twitter stock probe, claimed SEC is harassing him". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  52. ^ Fung, Brian; Duffy, Clare (October 5, 2023). "US regulator seeks court order to compel Elon Musk to testify about his Twitter acquisition". CNN. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  53. ^ a b "Regulator sues Musk to force testimony in X probe". BBC News. October 5, 2023. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  54. ^ Godoy, Jody (February 12, 2024). "US judge orders Elon Musk to testify in SEC's Twitter probe". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  55. ^ Goldstein, Matthew; Conger, Kate (January 14, 2025). "S.E.C. Sues Elon Musk Over Twitter-Related Securities Violations". The New York Times.
  56. ^ Mangan, Dan; Lora Kolodny (January 30, 2024). "Elon Musk's $56 billion Tesla compensation voided by judge, shares slide". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  57. ^ Kharpal, Arjun; Lora Kolodny (February 1, 2024). "Elon Musk says Tesla will hold a shareholder vote to incorporate in Texas after Delaware pay snub". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  58. ^ Hals, Tom. "Elon Musk convinced Tesla investors to back his pay. Now he must persuade a judge". Reuters. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  59. ^ Safdar, Joe Palazzolo and Khadeeja. "Exclusive | Elon Musk's Boundary-Blurring Relationships With Women at SpaceX". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 12, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  60. ^ "Former Workers Accuse SpaceX And Elon Musk Of Sexual Harassment, Retaliation In Lawsuit". HuffPost. June 13, 2024. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  61. ^ "Elon Musk is sued by another ex-Twitter exec, who says top bosses were 'cheated' out of $200 million in severance". Business Insider.
  62. ^ Conger, Kate (August 6, 2024). "X, Owned by Elon Musk, Brings Antitrust Suit Accusing Advertisers of a Boycott". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  63. ^ "Elon Musk slammed by British government after comments on UK riots". CBNC. August 6, 2024.
  64. ^ "Musk's X sues Unilever, Mars and CVS over 'massive advertiser boycott'". The Guardian.
  65. ^ Keslassy, Elsa; Ritman, Alex (August 13, 2024). "J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk Named in Cyberbullying Lawsuit Filed by Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif After Olympic Win (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  66. ^ Wang, Amy (October 28, 2024). "Philadelphia DA sues to stop $1 million giveaway from Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC".
  67. ^ "Elon Musk Keeps Getting Hit With Lawsuits For Duping Trump Supporters". HuffPost. November 14, 2024.
  68. ^ "Senators call for probe into Musk's alleged contact with Russia". BBC News.