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Elon Musk: 'I want to be clear — I do not respect the SEC' (TSLA)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants the world to know how he really feels about the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

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  • Tesla
  • Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission in an interview with "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night

"I want to be clear: I do not respect the SEC, I do not respect them," Musk said when asked about the SEC lawsuit brought against him earlier this year.

The SEC sued Musk in September, accusing him of sharing "false and misleading statements" in tweets about taking Tesla private.

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Musk reached a settlement with the SEC in late September that required him to pay $20 million and step down as Tesla's chairman for a minimum of three years. Tesla was also required to pay $20 million to the SEC as part of the deal.

What's more, the SEC said Tesla must introduce "additional controls and procedures to oversee Musk's communications," including his tweets.

During the interview, however, Musk said no one had reviewed any of his tweets since the settlement with the SEC.

"The only tweets that would have to be, say, reviewed, would be if a tweet had a probability of causing a movement in the stock," Musk said.

When pressed on the topic, Musk said: "I guess we might make some mistakes, who knows. Nobody's perfect."

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According to the settlement, though, Tesla has until December 28 to put in place procedures to review any of Musk's communications that could contain material information.

A Tesla representative confirmed to Business Insider that the company was in compliance.

"We can confirm the settlement is being complied with," the person said. "This includes having a policy (which technically needs to be in place by December 28) that requires preapproval of any communications that reasonably could contain material information."

Musk also spoke candidly about how he felt about stepping down as Tesla's chairman. When asked whether the new chairman was expected to watch over him, Musk said that wasn't the case.

"It's not realistic in the sense that I am the largest shareholder of the company and I can call for a shareholder vote and get anything done that I want," Musk said.

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When Musk was asked whether he would like to go back to being chairman, he replied, "I prefer no titles at all."

Musk also said he didn't "really want to try to adhere to some CEO template."

Watch the full interview below:

  • Read more from the "60 Minutes" interview:
  • Do you work at Tesla and have a story to share? Contact this editor at CThompson@BusinessInsider.com.

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