The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against a prominent figure, alleging that he failed to disclose his ownership of Twitter stock in a timely manner before purchasing the social media platform. The individual in question, a billionaire, is accused of underpaying by at least $150 million for shares he acquired after surpassing the 5% ownership threshold of Twitter's shares.
The lawsuit states that the individual, who later acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X in October 2022, began accumulating Twitter shares in early 2022. By March of the same year, he had exceeded the 5% ownership limit, triggering a legal obligation to disclose his ownership. However, the required disclosure was not made until April 4, 11 days after the deadline.
Following the acquisition deal in April 2022, the individual attempted to retract from the agreement, prompting Twitter to take legal action to enforce the acquisition. Subsequently, the SEC initiated an investigation into potential violations of securities laws related to the individual's Twitter stock purchases, statements, and SEC filings starting from April 2022.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, the SEC sought court intervention to compel the individual to provide testimony as part of the investigation into the Twitter stock purchase. The current chair of the SEC, Gary Gensler, is set to resign from his position on Jan. 20, raising uncertainty about the continuation of the lawsuit under the new administration.
