Elon Musk trolls the SEC ahead of potential Tesla demotion

Earlier this week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) imposed a series of punishments against Elon Musk for false tweets that boosted Tesla stock. Instead of counting his lucky stars that the penalty only includes as personal $20 million fine and stepping down as the company chairman, Musk has instead been caught mocking the regulator ahead of the judge’s final ruling.

It seems as though Musk is making the most of his freedom before potentially losing his ability to say things without a company-appointed filter, taking to Twitter to criticise the same people forcing his demotion. Despite denying rumours of a planned name change, Musk mocked the SEC by calling them the Shortseller Enrichment Commission.

Just want to that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work. And the name change is so on point!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2018

Musk intends to point out an amount of hypocrisy in the act of his punishment over alleged stock manipulation by drawing attention to a supposed bias that the SEC shows towards Short Sellers. This is a bold move, given that Judge Alison Nathan still needs to read through a joint case presented by Tesla and the SEC to prove that the outlined punishment is sufficient.

While Tesla stock dropped 2 percent following Musk’s mockery, it is believed that both sides will present that the company’s stock would suffer up to $130 loss if the CEO was ousted. That being said, his strangely unpredictable behaviour as the head of a company could see the judge look at this case in a different light.

KitGuru Says: Musk is certainly pushing his luck lately, forgetting that his influence only goes so far. It seems a shame to see such controversial moves being made from a man that managed to gain a loyal following due to his innovative and thought-provoking ideas. What do you think of Musk’s behaviour lately?

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