Elon Musk Got Himself Sued by the SEC for Fraud After He Sent a 420 Tweet

Elon Musk is a troubled genius. He is revolutionizing human transportation, but can’t help himself from causing controversy on social media. He is revered by some, while others are disgusted by the influence he wields. He is also extremely not chill about smoking weed. And now, he’s getting sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for what appears to be a stupid 420 joke.

While the country watched transfixed as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh sat before the Senate Judiciary Commission Thursday, the SEC announced it was suing Musk for fraud based on a series of “false and misleading” tweets sent from his Twitter account. The tweets in question reflected Musk’s interest in taking Tesla private. In early August he tweeted that he had secured the necessary funding to do it, and that all he needed was a shareholder vote. He also told his 22 million followers that Tesla would go private at $ 420 per share—”a substantial premium to its trading price at the time,” according to the SEC.

However, the SEC’s complaint says that Musk in fact did not know any of this information with certainty. He manipulated the stock market, causing Tesla stock price to increase. Now, the SEC wants him to pay up (the amount is not specified). More importantly, it wants a judge to bar him from serving as an officer or director of a public company. Musk, as Tesla’s CEO, could get kicked off the Tesla board.

Tesla and its board released a statement saying they are “are fully confident in Elon, his integrity, and his leadership of the company,” Bloomberg reports. Musk said in a statement the lawsuit was “unjustified.” He continued: “Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way.”

Musk’s alleged interest in marijuana culture started during his relationship with musician Grimes. The SEC alleges Musk picked $ 420 to amuse his girlfriend. Backing up this claim is a message from Grimes to her friend and fellow musician Azealia Banks. Banks shared a screenshot of Grimes’ message in August, which reads:

he got into weed cuz of me and he’s super entertained by 420 so when he decided to take the stock private he calculated it was worth 419$ so he rounded up to 420 for a laugh and now the sec is investigating him for fraud.

We’re all laughing now.

Musk also showed off his ability to blaze it during an interview with Joe Rogan this month, where he took a drag from Rogan’s marijuana-laced cigarette while making this face:

YouTube

And that’s the paradox of Elon Musk. He’s sending a man to the moon, but he’s also too reckless to resist sending bad tweets to the internet. (Some of his tweets that aren’t related to marijuana are super problematic, which you can read about here. Never tweet!) He might lose his position at Tesla because of it. He’s already handed in a good deal of pride.

On the bright side, Azealia Banks said she wants to make a soundtrack for Musk’s SEC investigation. So we have that banger to look forward to.