The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to know if Tesla CEO Elon Musk misled investors last year about the automaker's capacity to build the Model 3 sedan, the company disclosed Friday.
In a routine filing to investors, Tesla said the SEC subpoenaed information about statements made in 2017 about Model 3 production, which is similar to requests made by the Justice Department. Federal investigators with the Department of Justice reportedly stopped short of issuing a subpoena, however.
"If an unfavorable ruling or development were to occur, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, prospects, cash flows, financial position and brand," Tesla wrote.
The two federal agencies may want to know if Musk and Tesla overstated to investors how many Model 3 sedans it could build last year. Last month, the Silicon Valley automaker and Musk settled a separate complaint by the SEC about the CEO's "funding secured" tweet Aug. 7 without admitting wrongdoing.
Musk denied the validity of an Oct. 26 report by the Wall Street Journal that the FBI may be investigating the CEO in an interview with Kara Swisher of Recode that posted on Friday and called the journalists "terrible people."
This story is developing and will be updated.
