The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into whether recent stock sales by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk have “violated insider trading rules,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources.
According to the WSJ, the investigation started last year after Kimbal sold shares of the EV maker valued at $108 million, a day before Musk polled Twitter users over whether he should offload 10% of his stake in Tesla.
Kimbal Musk did not know about the Twitter poll ahead of time, Elon Musk told the Financial Times. Tesla boss has added that his lawyers were “aware” of the poll.
An earlier settlement with the SEC required Musk’s public statements about the company's finances and other issues to be vetted by Tesla’s legal counsel.
The SEC reportedly issued a subpoena on November 16, ten days after Musk's poll, seeking information related to some financial data.
The potential probe comes amid Musk's escalating battle with the US regulator, which has been following his social media posts and Tesla's treatment of workers.
Last week, Musk accused the SEC of harassing him and his company with an “endless" and “unrelenting” investigation.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section