Federal investigators probe whether Musk used Tesla funds to build glass house
Christopher Hutton
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Federal prosecutors are looking into claims that Elon Musk used company funds from Tesla secretly to try to build himself a glass house.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has requested information about personal benefits paid to Musk, including how much funds were invested into a secret project, according to the Wall Street Journal. The project, the office claims, was meant to construct a large glass structure in Austin, Texas.
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Tesla’s board had previously investigated whether the company’s resources had been used to fund the secret project, known as “Project 42,” and how involved Musk was. The details of the internal investigation were never revealed. It is also unclear if the product was eventually delivered.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has also opened a civil investigation into Project 42 and has made similar requests as the Southern District. SEC rules require public companies to disclose transactions above $120,000 where a related party has a material interest. Both investigations are in the early stages and may not lead to formal allegations of wrongdoing.
This is not the only federal investigation into Tesla. The Department of Justice and SEC are also investigating whether the electric car company misled customers about the performance of its self-driving software Autopilot.
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Musk has also regularly clashed with the SEC after the billionaire agreed to pay $20 million in 2018 to settle a fraud lawsuit
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.