❌

Reading view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.

Elon Musk attacks SEC as he shares a letter saying it is probing Neuralink

Elon Musk in a meeting
Elon Musk.

Allison Robbert/Getty Images

  • Elon Musk shared a legal letter to X which said Neuralink faces a probe by the SEC.
  • He shared the letter in a series of posts attacking and mocking SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
  • Musk wrote, "Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?"

Elon Musk has revealed that Neuralink, his brain-chip implant company,Β is facing a probe from the Securities and Exchange Commission, with which he has long feuded.

Musk posted a letter on the subject to X Thursday, as well as a mocking, AI-generated image of SEC chair Gary Gensler. He called the SEC "just another weaponized institution doing political dirty work."

"Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?" Musk wrote in the post sharing the letter from his lawyer, Alex Spiro, to Gensler.

In the letter, which was said it was "in the matter of certain purchases, sales, and disclosures of Twitter shares," Spiro said the SEC "reopened" an investigation into Neuralink but didn't elaborate on why. It also said the SEC was preparing action against Musk over his 2022 acquisition of Twitter, now X.

Oh Gary, how could you do this to me? πŸ₯Ή pic.twitter.com/OoooQI77ZS

β€” Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2024

The billionaire later shared another post featuring an AI-generated image of a snail wearing a business suit and said it depicted Gensler.

Neuralink and the SEC didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

The SEC is investigating how Musk bought shares in Twitter ahead of his $44 billion acquisition of the social network.

Musk started buying shares in Twitter in 2022, and by the spring, he had a 9% stake in the company before he struck a deal to buy it outright later in the year.

Spiro, Musk's lawyer, also said in the letter that the SEC issued a "settlement demand" on Wednesday to agree within 48 hours to make a payment or face enforcement action.

Spiro wrote that this followed "a multi-year investigation and more than six years of harassment" of Musk by the SEC.

This is an apparent reference to the SEC suing Musk in 2018 over a tweet in which he claimed he had the funding to take Tesla private, which led to him being forced to step down as chairman.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Read the memo Calendly's CEO sent to employees announcing 70 job cuts

Calendly logo displayed on a phone
Calendly was founded by CEO Tope Awotona in 2013

Illustration by Timon Schneider/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

  • Calendly laid off around 70 employees in its engineering, customer experience, marketing, and billing teams.
  • BI obtained a copy of CEO Tope Awotona's memo announcing the cuts to staff on Wednesday morning.
  • Calendly previously laid off 60 employees in July 2023 and was valued at $3 billion in 2021.

Scheduling platform Calendly laid off around 70 employees β€” about 13% of its workforce β€” on Wednesday.

The CEO,Β Tope Awotona,Β emailed employees at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday with the subject heading "Important Update: Team Changes and Reorganization."

Awotona said he had "some difficult news" and told workers that the company was carrying out "strategic reorganizations" across its engineering, customer experience, marketing, and billing departments and that "approximately 70" people would be impacted.

"These decisions are never easy, and I take full responsibility for the choices that have led us to this point," he wrote.

Awotona also said that those affected would receive a calendar invite for a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Two people familiar with the matter told Business Insider that there were 46 layoffs in the engineering team, 16 in the customer-experience team seven in marketing, and two in billing.

A screenshot shared with Business Insider by an employee shows that a companywide Slack channel had 466 members after the laid-off workers lost access to the company's system.

The startup, valued at $3 billion in 2021, previously laid off 60 people in July 2023, The Information reported at the time. It was founded by Awotona in 2013 and grew to have more than 20 million users, about half of which are outside the US.

The company has faced increasing competition from Big Tech. Both Google and Microsoft have rolled out features that let users share a link to their virtual calendars so others can book meetings with them.

Calendly did not immediately respond to a request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

This is Awotona's memo sent to employees, shared with BI by two employees:

Hi Team
I am reaching out this morning to share some difficult news. We've made the decision to do a series of strategic reorganizations across our Engineering, Customer Experience, Marketing and Billing teams. As part of the process, we are reducing these teams, which means we will be saying goodbye to approximately 70 of our talented teammates today. Our primary focus right now is ensuring we handle these transactions with the utmost care and respect.
If you role has been impacted, you will receive an email and calendar invite within the next 30 minutes to your personal email address from a People Team member inviting you to an indiviual meeting later today. Please note that your access to Calendly systems will be turned off shortly, and we've sent a copy of this email to your personal email address as well to ensure you have all the necessary information.
If your roles has NOT been impacted, you will not receive a separate email. During today's All Hands (3 PM ET/ Noon PT), we will share more details about these decisions, and leave time for a live Q&A at the end. Following the All Hands, department leaders will hold team-specific meetings (check your calendar for the exact times) to discuss how these changes affect your team and provide another opportunity to ask questions.
These decisions are never easy, and I take full responsibility for the choices that have led us to this point. To those leaving us today, please know that your hard work and dedication have been deeply valued, and we are incredibly grateful for your contributions to Calendly.
As a reminder, we ask that all team members continue to uphold their confidentiality agreements and adhere to Calendly's privacy policy.

Do you work for Calendly? Got a tip? Contact the reporter Jyoti Mann via the encrypted messaging app Signal at jyotimann.11 or via email at [email protected]. Reach out through a nonwork device.

Read the original article on Business Insider

❌