Tesla's Response To Fatal Autopilot Crash Investigated By SEC

<p>Tesla is under investigation for not telling investors about a fatal crash involving a Model S in Autopilot mode.</p><p>Tesla didn&#39;t disclose the crash publicly until June 30, but it informed safety regulators May 16. Tesla was preparing to sell off about $2 billion in stock at the time.</p><p>Now,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-investigating-tesla-for-possible-securities-law-breach-1468268385" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;reports the Securities Exchange Commission is investigating if that notice should&#39;ve come sooner.</p><p>On May 7, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teslamotors.com/blog/tragic-loss" target="_blank">Model S owner was killed</a>&nbsp;when his car struck a tractor-trailer that drove in front of him on the highway. Tesla says both the Autopilot system and the driver didn&#39;t see the vehicle and never applied the brakes.</p><p>Tesla informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the crash and claims it didn&#39;t know at the time if Autopilot was engaged just before the incident.</p><p><a href="http://fortune.com/2016/07/06/tesla-autopilot-crash-material-ceo-elon-musk/?iid=leftrail" target="_blank">Fortune previously accused</a>&nbsp;Tesla of failing to disclose a &quot;material fact&quot; from shareholders when it sold off the stock.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/750350191044259840" target="_blank">In a tweet</a>, Tesla founder Elon Musk called the Fortune article &quot;BS.&quot; Tesla&#39;s shares rose about 2 percent in the first day of trading after the crash was disclosed, which Musk said showed that the the incident wasn&#39;t &quot;material.&quot;</p><p>But now the SEC is investigating Tesla for exactly what Fortune accused it of. Regulators are already investigating the safety of Tesla&#39;s Autopilot system.</p><p><i>This video includes clips from&nbsp;</i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3UcXYOAF3c" target="_blank"><i>Tesla Motors</i></a><i>&nbsp;and images from Getty Images. Music provided courtesy of APM Music.</i></p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/videos/amazon-prime-day-is-here-and-we-have-all-the-details/">Amazon Prime Day Is Here, And We Have All The Details</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/videos/google-revealed-pokemon-go-2-years-ago-and-we-thought-it-was-a-joke/">Google Revealed &#039;Pokemon Go&#039; 2 Years Ago, And We Thought It Was A Joke</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/videos/here-s-how-facebook-chooses-what-you-can-see-in-facebook-live/">Here&#039;s How Facebook Chooses What You Can See In Facebook Live</a></li></ul>