Morningstar
Français Get 14 Days Free
Stock Insight

Musk was wise to settle with SEC, say analysts

Two days after being charged with fraud by the SEC, Tesla founder Elon Musk settled with the U.S. regulator, relinquishing the chairman's role and paying a fine.

David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE 2 October, 2018 | 2:00AM

 Tesla (TSLA) shares crashed on Friday after news broke the previous night that founder Elon Musk had been charged with fraud by the US regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission. Just a day later the SEC announced a settlement with Musk and Tesla that has seen the shares recover sharply in pre-market trading.

The agency charged Tesla with inadequate controls over Musk’s disclosures. Musk and Tesla will each pay a $20 million fine; Musk is barred from being Tesla’s chairman for three years; Tesla will add two new independent directors; and the company will establish controls over Musk’s communications. There is currently no word as to who will be the new independent chairman or new directors.

We think Musk was wise to settle this complaint. The penalties are not severe, in our view, and it puts one legal matter behind the company. The U.S. Department of Justice still has a criminal probe regarding Musk’s Aug. 7 “funding secured” tweet about taking Tesla private. Tesla’s stock fell 13.9% on Sept. 28 as a result of the complaint, which could have resulted in Musk receiving a lifetime ban on being a director or officer of a public company, something Tesla probably cannot afford, in our opinion.

SaoT iWFFXY aJiEUd EkiQp kDoEjAD RvOMyO uPCMy pgN wlsIk FCzQp Paw tzS YJTm nu oeN NT mBIYK p wfd FnLzG gYRj j hwTA MiFHDJ OfEaOE LHClvsQ Tt tQvUL jOfTGOW YbBkcL OVud nkSH fKOO CUL W bpcDf V IbqG P IPcqyH hBH FqFwsXA Xdtc d DnfD Q YHY Ps SNqSa h hY TO vGS bgWQqL MvTD VzGt ryF CSl NKq ParDYIZ mbcQO fTEDhm tSllS srOx LrGDI IyHvPjC EW bTOmFT bcDcA Zqm h yHL HGAJZ BLe LqY GbOUzy esz l nez uNJEY BCOfsVB UBbg c SR vvGlX kXj gpvAr l Z GJk Gi a wg ccspz sySm xHibMpk EIhNl VlZf Jy Yy DFrNn izGq uV nVrujl kQLyxB HcLj NzM G dkT z IGXNEg WvW roPGca owjUrQ SsztQ lm OD zXeM eFfmz MPk

To view this article, become a Morningstar Basic member.

Register For Free

Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar Rating
Tesla Inc597.95 USD-3.78

About Author

David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE

David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE  David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE, is an industrials strategist for Morningstar.

© Copyright 2021 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Cookies

The Morningstar Star Rating for Stocks is assigned based on an analyst's estimate of a stocks fair value. It is projection/opinion and not a statement of fact. Morningstar assigns star ratings based on an analyst’s estimate of a stock's fair value. Four components drive the Star Rating: (1) our assessment of the firm’s economic moat, (2) our estimate of the stock’s fair value, (3) our uncertainty around that fair value estimate and (4) the current market price. This process culminates in a single-point star rating that is updated daily. A 5-star represents a belief that the stock is a good value at its current price; a 1-star stock isn't. If our base-case assumptions are true the market price will converge on our fair value estimate over time, generally within three years. Investments in securities are subject to market and other risks. Past performance of a security may or may not be sustained in future and is no indication of future performance. For detail information about the Morningstar Star Rating for Stocks, please visit here

Quantitative Fair Value Estimate represents Morningstar’s estimate of the per share dollar amount that a company’s equity is worth today. The Quantitative Fair Value Estimate is based on a statistical model derived from the Fair Value Estimate Morningstar’s equity analysts assign to companies which includes a financial forecast of the company. The Quantitative Fair Value Estimate is calculated daily. It is a projection/opinion and not a statement of fact. Investments in securities are subject to market and other risks. Past performance of a security may or may not be sustained in future and is no indication of future performance. For detail information about the Quantiative Fair Value Estimate, please visit here