Elon Musk has bowed to pressure from US regulators to step down from the chairmanship of Tesla, heading off a legal threat that could have seen him forced out of the electric carmaker completely.
The capitulation came two days after the Tesla chief executive set up a dramatic confrontation with the Securities and Exchange Commission by rejecting a settlement of fraud charges against him. The charges were prompted by Mr Musk’s series of tweets last month claiming he was close to a $70bn buyout.
With his refusal to settle, the SEC went ahead and filed the charges late on Thursday, accusing him of making false and misleading statements. The lawsuit sought a ban that would have prevented him serving as a senior executive or director of any public company.