A bunch of Twitter shareholders are suing Elon Musk for allegedly failing to reveal he had purchased a major stake within the social media firm in the appropriate timeframe.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO revealed on April 4 that he had amassed a 9.2% stake in Twitter, main shares to soar as buyers seen the transfer as a vote of confidence.

However his disclosure might have been too late.

Federal commerce legal guidelines dictate that buyers should inform the Securities and Change Fee inside 10 days after they take a greater than 5% stake in an organization.

Musk, who began shopping for Twitter inventory in January, allegedly hit this milestone on March 14, that means he ought to have knowledgeable the SEC by March 24.

A consultant for Musk, the richest person in the world, didn’t instantly reply to a CNBC request for remark.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New York by regulation agency Block & Leviton on behalf of a number of Twitter shareholders, alleges that Musk was in a position to purchase up extra Twitter inventory at a deflated worth within the interval between passing the 5% threshold and publicly disclosing his stake.

Half a dozen authorized and securities experts have told The Washington Post that the delay might have helped Musk to internet $156 million.

Twitter’s inventory popped 27% on Apr. 4 after it was disclosed that Musk had amassed his 9.2% stake, value virtually $3 billion.

The category motion case has been filed on behalf of buyers who declare they misplaced out on potential positive factors they may have realized had Musk disclosed his shareholding earlier.

“What appears crystal clear is that Elon Musk missed the relevant 10-day submitting deadline underneath Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Securities Act of 1933 to report 5% possession in a public firm,” Alon Kapen, a company transaction lawyer with Farrell Fritz, mentioned in a press release shared with CNBC.

“That gave him an additional 10 days during which to purchase extra shares (he elevated his possession throughout that point by an additional 4.1%) earlier than the per share worth spike that occurred when he lastly introduced his holdings on April 4,” Kapen added.

After the disclosure of his Twitter stake, Musk revealed that he additionally supposed to sit on the board of the corporate. Nevertheless, for causes that haven’t been introduced, he has determined to not take the seat.