Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has decided to file a lawsuit against an executive from an oil pipeline service company for impersonating his identity in an email.
Forbes and Bloomberg identified the oil industry executive being sued as Todd Katz, the CFO for Quest Integrity Group which has its headquarters in Seattle. The lawsuit accuses the oil industry executive of pretending to be Elon Musk in an email so that he could obtain insider information. The email was reportedly signed with Musk’s initials and sent a few hours before the release of Tesla’s second-quarter financial report.
“why (sic) you so cautious w Q3/4 gm guidance on call? also, what are your thoughts on disclosing M3 res#? Pros/cons from irpov?what (sic) is your best guess as to where we actually come in on q3/4 deliverables. honest guess? nobs. thx 4 hard work prepping 4 today,” read the impersonated email.
The email was sent to Tesla’s chief financial officer Jason Wheeler with the intention of finding out the financial details of the electric car maker. Tesla CEO filed the lawsuit with the Santa Clara County Superior Court on Wednesday and the company is seeking compensation though the amount sought has not been specified.
“The point of this action is that this was perceived as an effort to gain inside information, non-public information,” stated Tesla’s lawyer, John Hueston.
The lawsuit comes at a time when Elon Musk’s net worth, as well as his company’s performance, has been experiencing financial shake-ups. The company’s share price plummeted recently following issues arising from the autopilot feature as well as losses reported by the business. The company has found itself straining financially and this has also trickled down to Elon Musk’s net worth.
Despite the bad season for Elon Musk’s net worth and that of his firm in general, the firm seems to be picking up and all is expected to be well. The company’s stock closed the recent trading session $196.41 with a positive share price movement by $0.36 which is equivalent to 0.18%. The stock also experienced a positive movement during afterhours trading with a $1.09 rise which is equivalent to a 0.55% increment.
