Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission want more time to work out their dispute over whether the Tesla Inc. TSLA, -4.26% chief executive violated a court order restricting his use of social media.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan already granted the two sides a one-week extension to continue negotiating, after she ordered them on April 4 to resolve the SEC’s request to have Musk held in contempt of court. In a court filing submitted late Thursday, Musk and the regulator sought a new deadline of April 30.
The feud stems from an SEC investigation in 2018 that alleged Musk misled investors by tweeting about a potential buyout of his company. Musk paid a $20 million fine to settle the case and agreed to have certain statements overseen by Tesla lawyers. The SEC alleged he then violated the pact in February by tweeting about company production figures without the necessary preapprovals. Musk has countered that his February tweet wasn’t material because it simply repeated projections that Tesla had disclosed during an earnings update. He also maintains that his tweet was a “celebratory” remark intended to show how far the company had come.
The two sides said in the court filing that their discussions “continue to be productive and are still ongoing.”
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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