Elon Musk and US SEC to square off in court on 4 April over controversial tweet

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at an event in Palo Alto, California. Reuters[/caption]US District Judge Alison Nathan scheduled oral argument on an SEC contempt motion for 4 April at 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT), after both sides said they saw no need for an evidentiary hearing.Musk was accused by the SEC of violating his October 2018 fraud settlement with the regulator by tweeting on 19 February to his more than 24 million Twitter followers that Tesla could build around 500,000 vehicles in 2019.The SEC said that tweet was improper because Musk did not get advance approval from Tesla.Musk’s lawyers have said the tweet was not material, and merely restated a target for his Palo Alto, California-based electric car company that he had discussed publicly in January.John Hueston, a lawyer for Musk, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The SEC did not immediately respond to a similar request.The settlement was intended to resolve a lawsuit over a Twitter post last 7 August in which Musk said he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 a share.It called for Musk and Tesla to each pay $20 million civil fines, and for Musk to step down as Tesla’s chairman.