SEC sues Elon Musk over tweets about taking Tesla private

The federal government is suing Elon Musk, accusing the Tesla CEO of fraud in proposing last month to take the electric car maker private.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in federal court Thursday alleging Musk misled investors when he tweeted on Aug. 7 that he was considering taking the company private. 

Musk made it seem “that funding for this multi-billion dollar transaction had been secured, and that the only contingency was a shareholder vote,” the complaint states. “In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source.”

Tesla stock dropped 9 percent in after-hours trading.

This is a developing story.