Elon Musk walks back SEC attacks, but slams handling of FTX fiasco
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk attempted to soften his often caustic rhetoric toward the SEC in testimony on Wednesday, but nonetheless panned the agency's handling of the FTX collapse.
Musk, who was testifying in court in Delaware on Wednesday in a case regarding his hefty compensation package, walked back some statements about the Securities and Exchange Commission that he has made over the years. Musk has taken an antagonistic tone with regulators for quite some time, terming the SEC the "Shortseller Enrichment Commission" in late 2018 and again in mid-2020, escalating his vocal displeasure with the agency amid his attempts to nullify his $44B Twitter takeover. 
In court on Wednesday he clarified that he believes âthe mission of the SEC is good.â Rather, he takes issue with specific enforcement decisions. Specifically, Musk took issue with the SECâs handling of cryptocurrency regulation, such as in the case of the recent FTX bankruptcy.
âThe SEC fails to investigate things that they should and places far too much attention on things that are not relevant. The recent FTX thing I think is an example of that,â he said in court on Wednesday. âWhy was there no attention given to FTX? Investors lost billions, yet the SEC continues to hound me despite shareholders being greatly rewarded.â
The crypto firm is reportedly the subject of both an SEC investigation and a criminal probe.
Elsewhere, Musk addressed an infamous tweet from July 2020 wherein he alluded to a vulgar acronym for the agency.

When told such a tweet was âdangerousâ at the time by his vocal investor and supporter Ross Gerber, Elon acknowledged this fact but retorted in a response at the time âsooo satisfying.â In court on Wednesday, he offered the alternative meaning of âSave Elonâs Company," arguing that the implication of an explicit phrase was a misinterpretation of his intentions. He also confirmed that a âTwitter sitterâ did not approve the tweet as was required in a previous SEC agreement. 
Read more on Muskâs comments regarding his plan to step down from his current role at Twitter.