Elon Musk’s $44bn (£36bn) takeover of Twitter is beneath investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and he might be compelled to testify.

According to courtroom filings on Thursday, the case centres round issues the world’s richest man broke federal safety legal guidelines in 2022, when he purchased Twitter inventory.

The investigation can also be trying into statements and SEC filings he made in relation to the deal.

The newest growth marks the continuation of a long-running feud between the SEC and Mr Musk.

The SEC – which stated on Thursday it’s searching for a courtroom order to compel Mr Musk to testify – stated it subpoenaed Mr Musk in May 2023, requiring him to provide testimony on the SEC’s San Francisco workplace.

Mr Musk had agreed to look on 15 September, the SEC stated, however two days beforehand he raised “several spurious objections” and stated he wouldn’t seem.

Among his objections was that the SEC was attempting to “harass” him and that his counsel wanted time to assessment doubtlessly related materials in a biography of Mr Musk, in keeping with the SEC.

The submitting states Mr Musk has given the SEC paperwork referring to the investigation and gave testimony in July final 12 months in a video convention.

Alex Spiro, representing Mr Musk, stated: “The SEC has already taken Mr Musk’s testimony multiple times in this misguided investigation – enough is enough.”

The SEC says it seeks his testimony “to obtain information not already in the SEC’s possession that is relevant to its legitimate and lawful investigation”.

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Mr Musk purchased Twitter after constructing a big minority stake in April final 12 months within the social media platform, which he has renamed X.

He was late with the disclosure submitting and initially indicated he deliberate to be a passive stakeholder – that means he didn’t plan to take over Twitter or affect its administration selections.

He then accepted after which turned down a board seat at Twitter simply days later.

In late April, he introduced plans to purchase the corporate for $44bn, however subsequently tried to get out of the deal, alleging Twitter was not disclosing the total extent of bot exercise on its platform.

Faced with a trial to compel him to finish the deal, Mr Musk accomplished the acquisition of Twitter in October 2022.