The Securities and Exchange Commission has served Tesla with a subpoena regarding recent tweets from the the company's CEO, Elon Musk, claiming he had secured the funding to take the company private, according to The New York Times.
Neither the SEC nor Tesla spoke to The New York Times about the subpoena, and the scope of the agency's investigation is unclear. Though the subpoena came a week after Mr. Musk's controversial tweets, the SEC was already in contact with a former Tesla employee regarding claims there are problems with batteries in Tesla vehicles and Mr. Musk is misleading investors over production numbers.
Tesla's independent directors have hired the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to represent the company in the SEC investigation, while a subset of directors have retained the firm Latham & Watkins to consider Mr. Musk's proposal to take the company private.