Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission have been ordered by a judge to meet for at least an hour to try to settle the agency’s objections to Musk’s social media posts.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan said on Friday that both sides have until April 18 to reach a resolution. If they can’t work out an understanding, then the judge will decide if Musk should be held in contempt of court for violating an SEC agreement regarding his use of Twitter.
Musk agreed in October to settle an SEC fraud complaint related to tweets saying he had “funding secured” to take the automaker private. As part of the settlement, Musk agreed to have potentially market-moving tweets reviewed before hitting send.
In February, Musk tweeted “Tesla made 0 cars in 2011, but will make around 500k in 2019.” A follow-up tweet a few hours later updated the delivery number to 400,000 cars this year.
The SEC says those tweets weren’t approved, contained information material to Tesla, and thereby violated the agreement. The agency then asked a judge to hold Musk in contempt.
“I have great respect for Judge Nathan, and I’m pleased with her decision today.” Musk said in a statement released by Tesla. “The tweet in question was true, immaterial to shareholders, and in no way a violation of my agreement.”