Elon Musk to step down as Tesla chairman

In August 2018, Elon Musk tweeted about taking Tesla private. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged him and the company for fraud over this and as part of a settlement deal, Musk will resign as the chairman of the electric car company.

SEC has also charged Tesla for failing to have the required disclosure control and procedures over Musk’s tweets. As part of the settlement, both the company and Musk have been fined US$ 20 million each.

This settlement also has riders like Musk being ineligible to be the chairman for the next 3 years, appointment of 2 independent directors to the company's board, a committee of directors to oversee Musk’s communications and place additional controls. Further, the fine amounts would be distributed to investors affected under a court approved process.

The settlement will stand post a court approval in which Tesla and Musk neither admit nor deny the charges levied by the SEC. Elon Musk will continue as the CEO of the company.