UPDATE
The distribution of the SEC v Tesla Fair Fund occurred on September 29, 2023.
  
If you received a check from this distribution, please cash it promptly.  If you do not timely cash your check, you may irrevocably forfeit any recovery from the Fair Fund.

If you’d like to have the check reissued, your request must be submitted in writing and received by the check stale date.  Please email your request to info@SECvTeslaFairFund.com or write a letter to the address shown at the top of the check indicating the reason as to why you need the check reissued.  In your request, please include your name, current address, email address, check number, claim number (which can be found on the letter transmitting the check), and check amount.  Any request for reissuance because of a name change must include supporting documentation.

If you are sending sensitive personal information electronically, such as through email, please send it encrypted to protect the security of the information.  If you cannot send it securely, please send it to us by mail at the address located here.

Note: All reissued checks shall expire 90 days from the date of the original check, or 30 days from the date of the reissued check, whichever is later.  No check will be reissued more than 90 days from the date of the original check. 

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The following is a summary of information presented in more detail in the Plan Notice. Since this is just a summary, you should read the full Plan Notice for additional details.

BACKGROUND

On September 27, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”) filed a civil action against Elon Musk (“Musk”) alleging violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder in connection with certain false and misleading statements by Musk. 

On September 29, 2018, the Commission filed a related civil action against Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”), alleging violations of Exchange Act Rule 13a-15, also in connection with Musk’s false and misleading statements. 

The two complaints alleged that Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, made a series of materially false and misleading statements about Tesla on his Twitter account in August 2018, and that Tesla failed to implement adequate procedures or controls for determining whether to disclose the information Musk disseminated on Twitter in its filings.

On October 16, 2018, the Court entered a Final Judgment that required Musk to pay a civil penalty of $20 million. Also, on October 16, 2018, the Court entered a Final Judgment that required Tesla to pay a civil penalty of $20 million.

Pursuant to their Final Judgments, Musk and Tesla (the “Defendants”) paid a total of $40 million to the Commission (the “Fair Fund”). On February 6, 2019, the Court entered an Order consolidating the Musk and Tesla civil actions for the post-judgment purpose of distributing the funds paid by Defendants.

By Order entered February 26, 2020, the Court established a Fair Fund pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, so that the civil penalties paid by Defendants can be distributed to harmed investors, and appointed Miller Kaplan Arase LLP, as the tax administrator of the Fair Fund.

By Order dated May 12, 2021, the Court appointed Rust Consulting as the Distribution Agent for the Fair Fund to assist in overseeing the administration and the distribution of the Fair Fund in coordination with Commission staff, pursuant to the terms of the Plan of Distribution.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be eligible for a payment from the Fair Fund, you must satisfy certain eligibility criteria that are described in detail in the Plan of Distribution.  Those criteria include the following:

  1. You must have purchased or acquired Tesla common stock, listed on a U.S. exchange and registered with the Commission and traded under the symbol TSLA, during the Relevant Period (between 12:48:16 p.m. EDT on August 7, 2018 and 4:00 p.m. EDT on August 8, 2018);

  2. Your approved transactions must calculate to a Recognized Loss Amount pursuant to the Plan of Allocation and the Distribution Payment must equal or exceed $10.00.

  3. You are not an Excluded Party as defined in the Plan of Distribution, including:
  • • The Defendants;

  • • Present or former officers or directors of Defendant Tesla or any assigns, creditors, heirs, distributees, spouses, parents, dependent children or controlled entities of any of the foregoing persons or entities;

  • • Any employee or former employee of the Defendant Tesla or any of its affiliates who has been terminated for cause or has otherwise resigned, in connection with the conduct detailed in the Complaint;

  • • Any Person who, as of the Claims Bar Date, has been the subject of criminal charges related to the conduct detailed in the Complaint or any related Commission action;

  • • Any firm, trust, corporation, officer, or other entity in which Defendants have or had a controlling interest;

  • • The Distribution Agent, its employees, and those persons assisting the Distribution Agent in its role as the Distribution Agent; or

  • • Any purchaser or assignee of another Person’s right to obtain a recovery from the Fair Fund for value; provided, however, that this provision shall not be construed to exclude those Persons who obtained such a right by gift, inheritance or devise.