Elon Musk has been ordered to testify in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into his purchase of Twitter (now X) in October 2022.
The SEC is looking into whether or not Musk committed securities fraud when he began picking up shares of Twitter to acquire a stake in the social media platform before buying it.
The acquisition cost Musk about $44 billion.
Related: Tesla Reveals It Received Subpoena After Elon Musk’s Tweet
On Saturday, California Federal Court Judge Laurel Beeler ruled that the SEC was “within its power” to subpoena the billionaire and set a one-week deadline for Musk and the regulatory agency to choose a date and location for the testimony.
If both parties cannot agree on a place and time, the judge will decide for them after hearing each party’s requests.
Musk was originally subpoenaed by the SEC in October 2023 after refusing to participate in an interview with the regulator the month before over the investigation into his purchase of X.
The billionaire’s legal team argued that the SEC’s investigation and interest in Musk had “crossed the line into harassment,” fueling his refusal to meet with the agency.
Musk’s feud with the SEC dates back to 2018, when the billionaire jokingly tweeted “funding secured” to take Tesla private, prompting the SEC to sue him for boosting and subsequently crashing Tesla’s stock valuation, claiming he misled investors.
Related: SEC investigates Elon Musk and his brother for insider trading
Musk settled for $20 million and with the stipulation that he would resign as chairman of Tesla’s board of directors.
“Thank goodness, the wisdom of the people prevailed,” Musk Tweeted at the time. “I deeply appreciate the jury’s unanimous decision of innocence in the private Tesla 420 case.”
Read the to force compliance, here.