Billionaire Musk, suddenly changed!
According to the latest news, after ignoring the order of the Brazilian Supreme Court for three weeks, the world's richest man Musk has finally "surrendered". In a court document, lawyers for social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) stated that X platform has complied with the relevant orders of the Brazilian Supreme Court and hopes that the court can lift the ban on its X platform within Brazil.
Some American media commented on this matter, saying that for Musk, this decision is an "unexpected move" and also means a "failure" for this businessman who claims to be a "freedom of speech warrior". Previously, the boss of X company, Musk, had clearly stated that he refused to comply with the Brazilian Supreme Court's order to review X platform related accounts and appoint legal representatives in Brazil. Musk also fired local employees and refused to pay fines.
At the end of August this year, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered an immediate suspension of the operation of Musk's social media platform X in the country. Brazil is also one of the most important international markets for X company, with analysts estimating that X platform has over 20 million users in Brazil. Since the X platform was blocked by the Brazilian government, Brazilians have flocked to the social network's competitors.
Musk is also facing another troublesome issue. According to CNN, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated in a court filing last Friday that the SEC intends to seek sanctions against Musk for failing to testify in an investigation related to his acquisition of X company.
According to Forbes' real-time billionaire list, Musk's latest net worth is $257.3 billion, equivalent to approximately RMB 1.81 trillion, ranking first in the world.
Musk Suddenly Surrendered
Musk has given up on 'resistance'. According to multiple foreign media outlets such as The New York Times and Reuters, in a court document, X company's lawyer stated that X platform has complied with the relevant orders of the Brazilian Supreme Court and hopes that the court can lift the blockade on its website.
The above-mentioned lawyer stated that the company has completed what Musk had previously vowed not to do, including banning a group of accounts that violated the law and spread false political information related to elections, which were ordered to be banned by the Brazilian Supreme Court. In addition, they have appointed a legal representative in Brazil and have also paid the relevant fines for non-compliance with the orders of the Brazilian Supreme Court.
The Brazilian Supreme Court confirmed X company's actions in a document on Saturday, but stated that the company did not submit appropriate documents. The Brazilian Supreme Court gave X five days to send further documents.
The New York Times commented on this matter, stating that for Musk, this decision was an "unexpected move" and also meant a "failure" for the businessman who touted himself as a "freedom of speech warrior".
On August 28th, a Brazilian court announced that Musk and X company had 24 hours to designate a legal representative for their business in Brazil, otherwise they would face a "suspension of activities" penalty, but Musk refused.
Subsequently, on August 30th local time, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered an immediate suspension of the operation of Musk's social media platform X in the country. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Demoles also demanded that the "X" platform pay the unpaid fines. The reason for the fine is that the "X" platform did not comply with the court order and did not delete accounts that were considered to violate the law, spread false information, etc.
After Demoles issued a decree to suspend X's operations in Brazil, Musk angrily accused Demoles of "attempting to destroy Brazil's democracy". The billionaire wrote on X, "Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of democracy, and an unelected fake judge in Brazil is undermining democracy for political purposes
In mid September, Demoles ordered the confiscation of 18.35 million Brazilian reals (approximately 24 million yuan) owned or controlled by Musk's social media platform "X" and satellite broadband network service provider "Starlink" in Brazil, to be used to fully pay the fine. It is reported that after confiscating the above-mentioned funds, the bank accounts of the two companies have been unblocked. However, currently "X" is still under lockdown in Brazil.
The conflict between the two sides has been ongoing for several months. Previously, Demoles ordered X platform to ban a group of accounts that spread false information, reportedly belonging to supporters of former Brazilian President Bolsonaro, on suspicion of publishing false information about the 2022 Brazilian elections. But X did not fully cooperate. In April of this year, Demoles ordered an investigation into Musk, accusing him of reactivating some banned accounts.
Musk's troubles are not limited to this
According to CNN, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated in a court filing last Friday that it intends to seek sanctions against Elon Musk for failing to testify in an investigation related to his acquisition of Twitter (now known as X).
Earlier this year, a federal judge ordered Musk to testify as part of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into the billionaire's $44 billion acquisition. The agency is reviewing whether Musk complied with the law when disclosing his purchase of Twitter stock and whether his statements related to the transaction were misleading.
According to court documents on Friday, after some preliminary back and forth arrangements, both parties agreed that Musk would testify on September 10th, and SEC lawyers flew to Los Angeles to hear Musk's testimony. But the document states that three hours before his testimony began, Musk's lawyer told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that his client (also the operator of SpaceX) had to urgently travel to the East Coast to participate in the launch of the "North Star Dawn" mission and would not be able to attend the testimony or reschedule for the next day. The documents show that both parties subsequently made efforts to find a time to reschedule the testimony and then confirmed a date for early October.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has stated that Musk violated a court order that required him to "seek written consent from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or an order from the court to modify the date of his testimony," and he stated that he did not do so before his appearance on September 10th.
Musk's excuses themselves have a taste of gaming skills, "the US Securities and Exchange Commission said in the filing." SpaceX has announced that its goal was to launch on Tuesday morning two days ago... As the company's Chief Technology Officer, Musk must have realized at the time that SpaceX's goal was to launch on the morning of the day he testified to the SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commission continued, "Despite knowing this beforehand, Musk did not notify the SEC of his intention to attend the press conference until three hours before his testimony began, and it was after the SEC spent thousands of dollars flying three lawyers to Los Angeles
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has requested the court to implement "meaningful conditional relief" when Musk does not appear on the new testimony date in October. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also stated its intention to file a sanction motion against Musk to recover the travel expenses he paid for canceling testimony and other remedies.