Elon Musk: ‘I want to be clear, I do not respect the SEC’ (TSLA)

Elon Musk concerned

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he has no respect for the Securities and Exchange Commission during a "60 Minutes" interview on Sunday evening.
Musk also said that no one has reviewed any of his tweets posted since his settlement with the SEC.
According to the settlement with the SEC, Tesla has until December 28 to put in place procedures to review any of Musk's communications that could contain material information.
In a statement to Business Insider, a Tesla spokesperson said "We can confirm the settlement is being complied with. This includes having a policy (which technically needs to be in place by December 28) that requires pre-approval of any communications that reasonably could contain material information.”
When asked if Tesla's new chairman was put in place to watch over Musk, he replied, "It's not realistic in the sense that I am the largest shareholder of the company and I can call for a shareholder vote and get anything done that I want," Musk said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed the Security and Exchange Commission in an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday.

"I want to be clear, I do not respect the SEC, I do not respect them," Musk said when asked about the SEC lawsuit brought against Musk earlier this year.

The SEC sued Musk in September alleging that he shared "false and misleading statements" about taking Tesla private when he tweeted about doing exactly that.

Musk reached a settlement with the SEC in late September that required him to pay $20 million and step down as Tesla’s chairman for a minimum of three years. Tesla was also required to pay $20 million to the SEC as part of the deal.

What’s more, the SEC said Tesla must put "additional controls and procedures to oversee Musk’s communications," including his tweets.

However, during the interview, Musk said no one has reviewed any of his tweets since the settlement with the SEC.

"The only tweets that would have to be, say, reviewed, would be if a tweet had a probability of causing a movement in the stock," Musk said.

When pressed on the topic, Musk said "I guess we might make some mistakes, who knows. Nobody's perfect."

According to the settlement, though, Tesla has until December 28 to put in place procedures to review any of Musk's communications that could contain material information.

A Tesla spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that the company was in compliance.

"We can confirm the settlement is being complied with. This includes having a policy (which technically needs to be in place by December 28) that requires pre-approval of any communications that reasonably could contain material information," the spokesperson said.

Musk also spoke candidly about how he felt about stepping down as Tesla’s chairman. When asked if the new chairman was put in place to watch over Musk, Musk said that wasn't the case.

"It's not realistic in the sense that I am the largest shareholder of the company and I can call for a shareholder vote and get anything done that I want," Musk said.

When Musk was asked if he would like to go back to being chairman, he replied, "I prefer no titles at all."

Musk also said he doesn't "really want to try to adhere to some CEO template."

Watch the full interview below:

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