*By Kavitha Shastry*
Shares of Tesla ($TSLA) dropped more than 10 percent after hours Thursday after the SEC filed securities fraud charges against CEO Elon Musk.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the agency said Musk either "knew or was reckless in not knowing" that a series of statements he made about taking his company private were false or misleading.
Elon Musk responded to the allegations in a statement to Cheddar saying, "This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way."
The SEC's charges stemmed from a [tweet](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1026872652290379776) by Musk on August 7 that he had "funding secured" for a deal that would value the company at $72 billion. The post sent shares of the stock surging to 11-month highs, but an admission by Musk a few days later that he hadn't quite sealed a deal with a Saudi sovereign wealth fund ー followed by a [withdrawal](https://www.tesla.com/blog/staying-public) of his plans ー brought shares down as much as 35 percent.
Shortly after the first tweet, the SEC launched a probe into whether civil charges should be filed. In the actual lawsuit the agency is looking to bar Musk from serving as an officer or a director of any public company. The agency may also impose civil penalties and force him to pay back any "ill-gotten" gains he received from the stock's price fluctuations.
The Department of Justice is currently investigating whether to file criminal charges as well.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
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