Tesla’s Musk May Settle SEC Lawsuit But Ready For Fight

The SEC in its suit said the meeting between Musk and
the fund ‘lacked discussion of even the most fundamental terms of a
proposed going private transaction’

Tesla Inc’s Elon Musk could settle with US regulators who have
sued to remove him from the electric carmaker’s leadership, but he
is prepared to fight the securities fraud lawsuit against him in
court, sources said on Friday as shares plunged about 14%.

Musk, Tesla’s chairman and chief executive, has been directly
involved in almost every detail of its product development and
technology strategy, and is credited as the driving force behind
the loss-making company’s ability to raise capital.

The cost of insuring Tesla debt against default rose to its
highest price ever on Thursday and the plummeting share price
attracted new short sellers, who bet against the stock. Short
sellers notched $1.27 billion Thursday alone in paper profits,
according to S3 Partners, which said Tesla recently regained the
title of most-shorted US stock.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Musk on
Thursday of tweeting false and misleading information in August
about financing for his now-abandoned plan to take the company
private, and said it was seeking to remove him as an officer or
director.

The billionaire entrepreneur said he had done nothing wrong and
the company’s board said it supported him.

The Wall Street Journal on Friday, citing a person familiar with
the matter, reported that Musk believed he had a verbal deal for
financing from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to take Tesla
private.

Musk last month in a blog said he left a July 31 meeting with
the fund’s managing director “with no question that a deal with the
Saudi sovereign fund could be closed.”

The SEC in its suit said the meeting between Musk and the fund
“lacked discussion of even the most fundamental terms of a proposed
going private transaction.”

Musk, 47, walked away at the last minute from a settlement with
the SEC that would have required him to give up key leadership
roles at the company for two years and pay a nominal fine,
according to reports on Friday.

But sources, who requested anonymity because they were not
authorized to discuss the matter publicly, told Reuters that while
Musk was ready to go to trial he could still settle. They did not
discuss possible terms.

CNBC reported that Musk had turned down an SEC deal to give up
his role as chairman, while Fox Business Network reported that Musk
had been offered a temporary ban as CEO.

Aeisha Mastagni, a portfolio manager for the California State
Teachers’ Retirement System, a Tesla investor, said she was
concerned about the board’s ability to oversee Musk and the company
and that she would welcome changes to Tesla’s board.

“I think this board is insular, ripe with conflicts; it’s the
poster child for bad corporate governance,” she said.

The board also lacks a director who could take over for Musk,
said investment adviser Cornerstone Capital’s research chief, John
Wilson. “The problem for investors is that an investment in Tesla
is an investment in Elon Musk,” he said.

Musk has hired Stephen Best at Brown Rudnick, who successfully
defended internet billionaire Mark Cuban in an insider trading
case, according to people familiar with the plans who also asked
not to be identified. He also hired former Assistant US Attorney
Chris Clark of Latham & Watkins to defend him in the case, the
people said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The
SEC declined to comment on the settlement reports.

Flooding: 70 percent of Bayelsa Communities under water,
Dickson cries out
… Gov Urges FG to Declare Flood Emergency in Bayelsa
…As a flood ravages Gov’s community, Toru Orua, others

The Governor of Bayelsa State, the Honourable Henry Seriake
Dickson, has raised the alarm that over 70 percent of the
communities in the state have been submerged by the raging flood in
the country.

The Governor spoke to journalists during a tour of communities
severely affected by flooding with representatives of the National
Emergency Management Agency, members of the state security
committee, the Police, the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the
Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and others.

A statement by the Special Adviser to Governor on Media
Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, on Sunday, stated that the Governor
spoke to journalists in the middle of a road in front of his
father’s compound at Toru Orua, with water rushing at a bewildering
rate from the Forcados River into the community.

The severity of the flood was such that some of the communities
have been cut off by the increasing flood level which has got to
window and lintel levels in others. The governor and those who
embarked on the tour with him observed that Biseni community and
settlements around it in Yenagoa Local Government Area could no
longer be accessed by road.

The convoy of cars had to be turned back when the people came
out in boats on the tarred road to say that accessing the area by
road had been rendered impossible by the raging flood with rising
water level.

Also, Governor Dickson and his team visited other communities
which were submerged by the raging waters with the desperate people
in need of shelter for relief materials at Sampou, Kaiama, Odi, in
Kolokuma/Okpokuma Local Government Area and Sagbama, Bolou Orua,
Toru Orua, and several others in Sagbama Local Area.

A substantial part of the state capital, Yenagoa, especially
Tombia, Akempai, and others are seriously affected by the flood.
Governor Dickson said that the severity of the flood made the State
Executive Committee and the State Security Committee to take a
decision during their meetings on Friday to close down all schools
in Bayelsa with immediate effect to enable the management to take
the students to their parents. He described the flood as a major
disaster which had affected the state with thousands of people
rendered homeless.

The governor also identified several some public premises which
were not affected by the flood for immediate conversion to
temporary internally displaced camps in the state. He called on the
Federal Government for urgent support to the state to combat the
humanitarian challenges thrown up by the flooding emergency.

The Governor who called on the Federal Government to declare a
flood emergency in Bayelsa observed that the coastal state which is
below the sea label was omitted when the government declared
emergency flood situation in four states – Kogi, Niger, Delta and
Anambra – on September 18, 2018. He argued that the flood situation
in Bayelsa was inevitable as the entire state is below sea level
with all the major rivers and tributaries through which water flows
from the River Niger and Benue to the Atlantic Ocean.

He said that the state government had set up a Special Committee
to manage the flood situation comprising top government officials
and the security services under the leadership of the Deputy
Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah.

He said, “We have spent the whole day going from one local
government area to the other; going from one community to the
other; assessing the situation and seeing first hand the way our
people are coping with this major disaster.

“Community after community, we have seen women, children and men
managing to survive a very difficult situation. So I want to first
of all, on behalf of the state government and the good people of
this state appreciate the resilience of our people who are affected
in the various communities.

“What has happened in this state is that about 70 percent of our
state right now is under water as we speak. Almost 70 percent of
our communities are under water now and people are now grappling
for survival. What we have seen is really, serious, dangerous and
touching. This is a major disaster that has affected the state.

“And those of you on this tour can attest to the deplorable
state we have seen in community after community. So I want to call
for immediate federal support to our state. We as part of our
emergency and disaster management system, we have in place, a
committee that has the security services working with the officials
of the NEMA under the overall management of the Deputy Governor who
reports to me.

“Government in conjunction with the security services are
working with the NEMA and SEMA officials and community leaders
organising themselves to mount various forms of rescue operations
and we have seen how the people themselves living in this flooded
homes are now devising various ways of protecting themselves and
properties.

“What we have seen is really touching. This is a major disaster
that has affected the state and I want to also thank the members of
the Security Council.”

Speaking also, representative of National Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA), Mr. Kayode Fagbemi, said that having observed the
pathetic flooding situation in Bayelsa during the tour of the
affected communities with the governor, he would report his
findings to Abuja.

He said that the agency had sent 20 òf its staff to the Bayelsa
preparatory to the anticipated flooding in the state. Fagbemi who
said that relief materials would soon arrive the state added that
the agency was collaborating with its state counterpart to organize
camps in the state.

“I have gone round communities with His Excellency and the
Deputy Governor and I have for myself and i have seen that the
situation is pathetic and I will take the report back home and more
support will come from the federal government.

“We have brought a water purifying machine here because we know
many of the water sources will be contaminated and make sure people
don’t take contaminated water.” He said.

By PRNigeria