Tesla Stock Drops as Musk’s SEC Battle Takes New Twist. What to Know.

A filing in Elon Musk’s battle with the SEC shows he spent 60% of his time in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Tesla stock fell Friday as CEO Elon Musk looks for a home court advantage in his battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SEC matters can be serious, but shouldn’t be all that significant for Tesla stock. Instead, the recent legal filings offer investors something else: Where Musk spends his time.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker traded as high as $348.75 on Friday, but gave up gains, leaving them down 3.5% at $333.86 at the close of trading. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and 02%, respectively.

The moves come after Musk’s legal team filed a venue transfer motion on Thursday from Washington, D.C., to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The court has an office in Austin, where Tesla is based.

“This case—which concerns a single allegedly late-filed beneficial ownership form in April 2022—should be litigated and adjudicated in the Western District of Texas,” reads part of the filing, “where the defendant and key percipient witnesses reside, and the overwhelming majority of the relevant events occurred.”

The ownership form related to stock in Twitter, now X, that Musk had accumulated while preparing to make an offer for the company.

Jared Birchall, managing director of Musk’s Austin-based family office, Excession LLC, estimates that since 2020, Musk has spent roughly 60% of his time in Austin.

“My work covers numerous facets of Mr. Musk’s life and businesses, including but not limited to his business ventures, philanthropy, political work, and personal and legal matters,” reads a statement from Birchall in support of the venue change. “Because of my extensive dealings with Mr. Musk across many aspects of his life and businesses, I am knowledgeable about Mr. Musk’s whereabouts…his work, and travel schedule.”

Spending lots of time in Austin, near Tesla, is something investors want to hear, especially after Musk spent large parts of early 2025 in Washington working in the Trump administration.

As for the venue change, Barron’s cannot handicap the legal arguments. It would appear to benefit Musk since his legal team is asking.

It’s easier to predict that Musk’s current battle with the SEC won’t impact Tesla stock all that much. A prior battle over Musk’s 2018 “funding secured” tweet cost Tesla a $20 million fine. The case, related to Tesla, also cost Musk a $20 million fine.

Better reasons for Friday’s swoon were Tesla’s recent strength and Nvidia. Coming into Friday trading, Tesla stock was up about 8% over the past five days. And Nvidia stock lost 3.4% on Friday, falling for the second day since the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Wednesday evening. Nvidia is a key AI investment, and investors view Tesla stock as an AI play. What happens to one AI stock can often impact others.

Tesla stock needed to close above $340.01 to notch a fourth consecutive weekly gain. Friday’s weak performance snapped that winning streak. Coming into Friday trading, Tesla stock was down about 14% year to date, but up about 68% over the past 12 months.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com