As Tesla Inc.'s stock price slides, Chief Executive Elon Musk is continuing to play the bad boy, publicly insulting the Securities and Exchange Commission days after agreeing to settle fraud charges with the agency.
On Thursday, Musk tweeted that he just wanted to say "the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work. And the name change is so on point!"
Over the weekend, Musk and the commission agreed to settle fraud charges that stemmed from the executive's loose use of Twitter. Musk agreed to personally pay a $20-million fine, give up his chairman's seat at Tesla and bring two new independent directors onto the electric-car maker's board. In addition, Musk agreed to have his public comments about Tesla monitored by the company before putting them out on Twitter or elsewhere.
The SEC charged Musk with fraud last week over a slew of Aug. 7 tweets, including one in which Musk claimed he had "funding secured" for a deal to take Tesla private at $420 a share.
Also on Thursday, the federal judge overseeing the settlement ordered the SEC and Tesla to write a joint statement justifying the settlement before she decides whether to approve it.
