https://twitter.com/_jameshatfield_/status/11001772987230945...
Tweeting that they definitely would hit the high end of that range, i.e., 500k, i.e., almost 142% of the low-end of the range, was a specific statement about Tesla's capabilities intended to narrow the range of the earlier statements in the interview. Ergo, the tweet was material information and it was reasonable for investors to interpret that Tesla would hit 500k by the end of the year, because it was tweeted by the CEO himself. The clarification about it being a pro-rated (i.e., annualized) number was not provided until much later. (And legally that makes all the difference.)
It's the law. That's how it works.
Especially if you agreed to it.
Also, note that the market was closed at the time of the tweet and the second tweet clearing up any possible confusion, thus, having no impact on the stock.
Whether it's new information or not, he was supposed to get approval first.
> Also, note that the market was closed at the time of the tweet and the second tweet clearing up any possible confusion, thus, having no impact on the stock.
Feel free to argue to a judge that the law knocks off overnight.
In any case: the judgement sought by the SEC is for civil contempt for breaking his agreement. It matters that he didn't follow the procedure that he had promised to follow.
> According to Tesla’s Policy, any edits to a pre-approved Written Communication or even releasing a verbatim pre-approved Written Communication more than two days after it has been pre-approved requires that the pre-approval be reconfirmed. Even if the exact substance of the 7:15 tweet had been pre-approved 20 days before, Musk cannot credibly claim that he thought he was not required to obtain pre-approval again under the plain terms of the Policy. In fact, the written communication in the 7:15 tweet was not pre-approved 20 days earlier or at any time. Musk’s claim that he thought he was simply restating information from the January 30 communications is not credible.
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5750664/Show-Caus... 12th PDF page (labeled 9 at bottom of page)
That exactly what the follow up tweet which was vetted clarifies.
vs.
Crazy guy that bankrupted himself trying to build a rocket company and a car company simultaneously is less than overly cautious about his tweeting and how it could be used in bad faith by a government legal agency in the USA to persecute him.