WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) regarding Chief Executive Elon Musk’s plan to take the company private and his statement that funding was “secured,” Fox Business Network reported on Wednesday, citing sources. 
 
 The electric carmaker’s shares fell as much as 4 percent but cut their losses after Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) said it was dropping equity coverage of Tesla because it is acting as a financial adviser on a matter related to the automaker. 
 
 Investors viewed the Goldman statement as confirming a tweet from Elon Musk on Monday about working with Goldman, even as the reported subpoenas indicated the SEC has opened a formal investigation into a matter. 
 
 The latest news extended the roller-coaster ride for Tesla investors in recent days, adding to uncertainty about the future course of the company and whether a deal can be done amid growing regulatory complications. 
 
 Tesla and the SEC declined to comment. 
 
 Musk stunned investors and sent Tesla’s shares soaring 11 percent when he tweeted early last week that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share and that he had secured funding for the potential deal. 
 
 The shares fell 2.6 percent to $338.69 on Wednesday, below $341.99, their closing price the day before Musk tweeted his plan to take Tesla private. 
 
 The Tesla CEO provided no details of his funding until Monday, when he said in a blog on Tesla’s website that he was in discussions with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and other potential backers but that financing was not yet nailed down. 
 
 Musk also tweeted late Monday night he was working with Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Silver Lake as financial advisers. However, as of Tuesday, Goldman was still negotiating its terms of engagement with Musk, according to a person familiar with the matter. 
 
 The 47-year old billionaire’s tweet about secured funding may have violated U.S. securities law if he misled investors. On Monday, lawyers told Reuters Musk’s statement indicated he had good reason to believe he had funding but seemed to have overstated its status by saying it was secured. 
 
 FILE PHOTO: Tesla Motors Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk pauses during a news conference in Tokyo September 8, 2014. Musk said on Monday that he would not be surprised if there was a significant deal with Toyota Motor Corp in the next two to three years, though there were no definitive plans. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo 
 
 The SEC has opened an inquiry into Musk’s tweets, according to one person with direct knowledge of the matter. Reuters was not immediately able to ascertain if this had escalated into a full-blown investigation on Wednesday. 
 
 This source said Tesla’s independent board members had hired law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to help handle the SEC inquiry and other fiduciary duties with respect to a potential deal. 
 
 The Wall Street Journal said the SEC was seeking information from each Tesla director. ||||| Elon Musk's market-moving tweet about possibly taking Tesla private is just the latest erratic move in a tumultuous year for the CEO. Photo illustration: Heather Seidel/The Wall Street Journal 
 
 Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk’s revelations that he has talked to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund to provide the cash to take the company private gives regulators more ammunition to fault how he first disclosed it, securities law experts said. 
 
 The Securities and Exchange Commission has inquired about Mr. Musk’s basis for writing on Twitter last week that he had “funding secured” for the deal. Mr. Musk’s Monday statement acknowledged that Saudi Arabia’s participation hinges on “financial and other due diligence... ||||| Telsa CEO Elon Musk's latest tweet came as the judge overseeing the settlement on Thursday declined to immediately approve the deal he made with the Securities and Exchange Comission. | Chris Carlson, File/AP Photo Money Musk trolls the SEC with tweet mocking agency 
 
 Tesla CEO Elon Musk fired off a tweet on Thursday that took a not-so-subtle shot at the Securities and Exchange Commission, which on Saturday settled fraud charges with the tech billionaire. 
 
 At 4:16 p.m., Musk tweeted that "the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work. And the name change is so on point!" 
 
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 On Saturday, Musk agreed to step down as Tesla chairman and pay $20 million for an Aug. 7 tweet that said he had "funding secured" for a deal to take the electric car company private. Musk has railed against short sellers who are betting Tesla’s shares will fall and who have raised doubts about the company’s vehicle sales. 
 
 His latest tweet came as the judge overseeing the settlement agreement on Thursday declined to immediately approve the deal, leaving open the possibility it may not go through. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan asked the SEC and Musk to file a joint letter, "explaining why the Court should approve the proposed consent judgment." 
 
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 The SEC settlement, which allowed Musk to remain Tesla’s CEO, required the company to put additional controls in place "to oversee Musk’s communications." 
 
 An SEC representative declined to comment on Musk's tweet, and a Tesla representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The tweet landed after the stock market closed. 
 
 There is a precedent for brash billionaires harassing the SEC after getting in trouble with the agency. 
 
 In 2014, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made a surprise appearance at an SEC meeting in Washington. Dressed in a hoodie, Cuban tweeted jibes at the agency and then held a brief news conference. 
 
 The SEC had charged Cuban with insider trading but lost in court in 2013. 
 
 
 
 This article tagged under: Financial Services ||||| The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ramping up its investigation into Tesla co-founder and chief executive Elon Musk after he tweeted last week that he was considering taking the electric-car maker private, and said “funding secured”, FOX Business’ Charlie Gasparino exclusively reported. 
 
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 The investigation is now "formal", according to Gasparino. 
 
 Tesla shares sank on news of the probe on Wednesday. 
 
 Ticker Security Last Change %Chg TSLA TESLA INC. 302.26 -45.05 -12.97% 
 
 “They’re between a rock and a hard place on this one,” Gasparino said. “[On one hand] it looks like what Elon Musk said when he said funding was secured, particularly after his statements recently, was not accurate. They don’t have the funding actually secured. They’re talking to people, what we understand, about the process of going private.” 
 
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 Tesla's board has yet to confirmed any funding details, but Musk outlined additional details on it in a blog post, noting he was all but certain to have landed the investment from the Saudi sovereign fund in July. 
 
 Still, that doesn't confirm his statement, considered "material" and likely problematic for the SEC. 
 
 The San Francisco office of the SEC has sent subpoenas to Tesla regarding its privatization plans and Musk’s statement to determine whether the billionaire inventor intentionally misled investors, Gasparino said. 
 
 Tesla, in response, has also hired two law firms, Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison to help deal with the SEC, and Latham & Watkins to advise on privatization. 
 
 Last week, Musk shocked investors after tweeting that he could take the company private at $420 per share, the stock soared on the news before being halted by the Nasdaq. 
 
 A former SEC commissioner told FOX Business last week if Musk's funding disclosure was not accurate, which appears to be the case a week later, it would create a new round of legal issues for Musk. 
 
 Both Tesla and the SEC have declined to comment about the investigation.
– It sure has been an interesting week for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and things might get worse before they get better. The controversy began last Tuesday when Musk startled his own company board by announcing that he might take Tesla private and, in fact, had "funding secured." Now the SEC is looking into how Musk handled the announcement, and one law professor tells the Wall Street Journal that "the probability that there will be an SEC enforcement action is, I think, quite high." Meanwhile, some bizarre accusations about Musk emerged from rapper Azealia Banks. Coverage: Musk's explanation: On Monday, Musk wrote in a blog that he's been in talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to provide the needed money to take the company private. The post appeared to be an attempt to quell the controversy over his initial tweet, notes the New York Times, which talks to people familiar with the Saudi fund who say a deal is nowhere close. In fact, the story asserts that Musk made his initial tweet with "little forethought." On Monday, Musk also tweeted that he was getting legal and financial advice on a deal from Goldman Sachs and others.