Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of misleading investors when he tweeted that he had funding lined up to take the company private.
The SEC’s allegation, contained in a lawsuit filed fewer than two months after Musk’s August tweet, sent Tesla’s shares down more than 11 percent in after-hours trading. It sought unspecified monetary penalties and added a market-rattling request — that a judge bar Musk from serving as an officer or director of a public company.
The SEC brought the case swiftly because its investigation was done — and impact would be ...