Elon Musk might be held in contempt of court over Tesla tweet

The US financial regulator has asked a New York judge to hold Tesla boss Elon Musk in contempt of court for a series of tweets he posted last week.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk violated the rules of an earlier settlement and disclosed information about the car firm's production on Twitter without seeking legal approval. 

On February 19, Musk tweeted to his nearly 25 million followers that Tesla would likely build about half a million cars this year.

Four hours later, he tweaked his comment to suggest that the production would reach an annualised rate of 500,000 units by year-end.