Elon Musk being investigated by federal authorities, Twitter reveals in court filing | Science & Tech News

Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities for his conduct in the $44 billion (£39 billion) acquisition of Twitter, the social media company said in a lawsuit.

The richest man in the world recently announced that he will continue with the purchase of the platform for huge sums of money, after months of legal battles.

Twitter, which sued the Tesla boss in July to force him to close the deal, said Mr Musk’s lawyers had requested “investigative privileges” by refusing to hand over the documents they requested.

In late September, Musk’s legal team provided a “privilege diary,” identifying documents that should be retained, according to the social media giant.

The diary mentions drafts of emails sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and slide presentations to the Federal Trade Commission.

While the court filing, released on Thursday, said the billionaire was under investigation, it did not explain why.

Instead, it asked a judge to order Musk’s attorney to hand over the documents.

The filing was made on October 6 – the same day that a Delaware judge halted the litigation between the two parties after Mr. Musk announced he would continue the deal.

Read more: Elon Musk’s Twitter deal is back – but will he come back a second time?

“This hide-and-seek must end,” Twitter said in the document.

One of Mr Musk’s lawyers, Alex Spiro, said the filing was a “misdirection” by the company, adding: “Twitter executives are under federal investigation.”

Twitter declined to comment on Spiro’s statement.

This is not the first time Mr. Musk has been questioned, having previously asked him about comments he made regarding the Twitter acquisition.

In April, the SEC asked Musk whether it was late to disclose his 9% stake on Twitter and why it indicated that he
intends to become a passive shareholder.

He then protested to show he was an active investor.