Elon Musk just mocked the SEC on Twitter after he was forced to pay $20 million in fines to the agency (TSLA)

elon musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk seemed to take aim at the Securities and Exchange Commission in a tweet on Thursday, calling it the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission."
"Just want to that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work," he said. "And the name change is so on point!"
The SEC declined Business Insider's request for comment.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what Musk meant by the tweet.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk seemed to take aim at the Securities and Exchange Commission in a tweet on Thursday, calling it the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission."

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

The SEC declined Business Insider's request for comment. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what Musk meant by the tweet.

Some Twitter users celebrated Musk's tweet, while others expressed disapproval.

"Keep it coming, Elon," one person said.

"Elon, please stop," said another. "This hurts shareholders worse than the SEC."

About 40 minutes after his initial tweet, Musk published another in which he addressed a typo in that tweet and appeared to target the SEC again.

"Sorry about the typo. That was unforgivable," he said. "Why would they be upset about their mission? It's what they do."

The SEC sued Musk last Thursday, and he and the agency reached a settlement on Saturday. Under its terms, Musk doesn't admit or deny the allegations in the agency's lawsuit but will step down as the chairman of Tesla's board of directors for three years and pay a $20 million fine.

According to the SEC, Tesla must create a committee of independent directors and "put in place additional controls and procedures to oversee Musk's communications," including on platforms like Twitter.

Several news outlets reported that the agency sued after Musk rejected a settlement under which he would have had to step down as chairman for two years, add two independent directors to the company's board, and pay a $10 million fine.

The SEC in its lawsuit accused Musk of making "false and misleading statements" in August about the possibility of taking Tesla private. It sought to bar Musk from being an officer or director of a public company.

The SEC alleged that Musk said a representative from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund had shown interest in taking Tesla private but had never discussed with Musk any of the specific terms he described on Twitter, including a proposed $420 share price and an option for all existing Tesla shareholders to remain with the company after it went private.

Musk said in a company statement last week that he was "deeply saddened and disappointed" by the lawsuit, which he described as "unjustified."

Have a Tesla news tip? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.

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