The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk’s original 9 percent share purchase in Twitter Inc, according to The Information.
According to the story, the FTC is investigating whether Musk complied with an antitrust reporting obligation when he purchased his share in the social media business in early April, citing people familiar with the case. A request for comment from Reuters was not immediately returned. Musk was replying to a tweet by podcast host Saagar Enjeti about Vijaya Gadde, the executive who controls Twitter’s policy and legal teams, which he acquired for $44 billion on Monday.
In an April 4 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the world’s richest person described his investment as “passive.”
He later offered $54.20 per share in cash for the company, which Twitter accepted earlier this week. Musk’s planned purchase of Twitter is unlikely to be blocked by antitrust regulators.
According to the report, the FTC is looking into whether Musk bought the stock to exert influence over Twitter’s management or if he appeared to be a passive stakeholder. Musk described his investment in Tesla as “passive” in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on April 4. The FTC declined to comment, and Twitter stated it had no comment on the allegation.
