Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is under scrutiny in Washington following a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on whether the billionaire broke rules by disclosing a large stake in the social media platform.
The SEC has opened an investigation into Musk's submission of a form that investors must file when they own more than 5% of a company.
The announcement of Musk's acquisition of more than 9% of the company was made on April 4, a week later than the deadline and using a 13G form, a method normally used by passive investors, reports the Wall Street Journal, when if he was intending to be an active shareholder he should have used a 13D form.
Likewise, the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing a bid by the world's richest person to take Twitter private.
SEC chair Gary Gensler has been pushing for tighter rules that require investors to disclose major stakes they hold in a company, and earlier this year proposed cutting the maximum time investors can take to disclose significant positions.
The SEC and Tesla chief have sparred repeatedly over the years, with Musk and his brother currently being investigated for potentially violating insider trading rules when selling shares in the electric automaker late last year, something Musk repeatedly denies.
In addition to this, Musk is also battling the regulator over the fallout from his infamous tweet about securing financing to take Tesla private.