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PARIS — A slew of celebrity endorsements helped inflate a multibillion dollar bubble around digital tokens over the past year, but cryptocurrencies are crashing and some fear NFTs could be next.

NFTs are tokens linked to digital images, "collectable" items, avatars in games or property and objects in the burgeoning virtual world of the metaverse.

The likes of Paris Hilton, Gwyneth Paltrow and Serena Williams have boasted about owning NFTs and many under-30s have been enticed to gamble for the chance of making a quick profit.

But the whole sector is suffering a rout at the moment with all the major cryptocurrencies slumping in value, and the signs for NFTs are mixed at best.

The number of NFTs traded in the first quarter of this year slumped by almost 50 per cent compared to the previous quarter, according to analysis firm Non-Fungible.

They reckoned the market was digesting the vast amount of NFTs created last year, with the resale market just getting off the ground.

Monitoring firm CryptoSlam reported a dramatic tail-off in May, with just $31 million spent on art and collectibles in the week to May 15, the lowest figure all year.

A symbol of the struggle is the forlorn attempt to resell an NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first tweet.

Dorsey managed to sell the NFT for almost $3 million last year but the new owner cannot find anyone willing to pay more than $20,000.

Molly White, a prominent critic of the crypto sphere, said there were many possible reasons for the downturn.

"It could be a general decrease in hype, it could be fear of scams after so many high-profile ones, or it could be people tightening their belts," she said.

The reputation of the industry has been hammered for much of the year.

The main exchange, OpenSea, admitted in January that more than 80 per cent of the NFTs created with its free tool were fraudulent — many of them copies of other NFTs or famous artworks reproduced without permission.

"There's a bit of everything on OpenSea," said Olivier Lerner, co-author of the book "NFT Mine d'Or" (NFT Gold Mine).

"It's a huge site and it's not curated, so you really have no idea what you're buying."

LooksRare, an NFT exchange that overtook OpenSea for volume of sales this year, got into similar problems as its rival.

As many as 95 per cent of the transactions on its platform were found to be fake, according to CryptoSlam.

Users were selling NFTs to themselves because LooksRare was offering tokens with every transaction — no matter what you were buying.

The amounts lost to scams this year have been eye-watering.

The owners of Axie Infinity, a game played by millions in the Philippines and elsewhere and a key driver of the NFT market, managed to lose more than $500 million in a single swindle.

'Like the lottery' 

"As soon as you have a new technology, you immediately have fraudsters circling," lawyer Eric Barbry noted.

He pointed out that the NFT market had no dedicated regulation so law enforcement agencies are left to cobble together a response using existing frameworks.

Molly White said strong regulation could help eliminate the extreme speculation but that could, in turn, rob NFTs of their major appeal — that they can bring quick profits.

"I think less hype would be a good thing — in its current form, NFT trading is enormously risky and probably unwise for the average person," she said.

NFTs are often likened to the traditional art market because they have no inherent utility and their prices fluctuated wildly depending on trends and hype.

But Olivier Lerner suggested a different comparison.

"It's like the lottery," he said of those seeking big profits from NFTs. "You play, but you never win." 

NEW YORK — Asian and European stocks rebounded on Friday on China's interest rate cut, but US equities gyrated amid fears that sky-high inflation will spark a recession.

"Markets have been looking for an excuse to bounce, and a China rate cut provided the reason," IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced it would lower its five-year loan prime rate — a key interest rate governing how lenders base their mortgage rates — to 4.45 per cent from 4.6 per cent.

The move is in contrast to other major central banks — like the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England — that are raising borrowing costs to combat rocketing consumer prices.

The Chinese move sparked optimism among traders that it could boost the world's second-largest economy from its COVID-induced stupor.

"The rate cut announced by the PBOC is obviously good news and is clearly targeted at revitalising the ailing property market which continues to suffer due to the crackdown last year and COVID lockdowns this year," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"This could help to revive a hugely important part of the economy," he added, but "whether it's enough to help China hit its 5.5 per cent growth target this year is another thing". 

Asian stocks closed with gains, as did Europe's main markets although those faded as the day wore on. 

Wall Street also opened higher but later tumbled, with the S&P 500 temporarily sinking into a "bear market", a drop of more than 20 per cent from a recent peak.

The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 3,901.36, basically unchanged for the day, but down three per cent for the week and off 19 per cent from its January high point.

"Stocks remain on a shaky footing", said market analyst Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and FOREX.com.

He said investors are worried about inflation, interest rate hikes, low economic growth, stagflation, and recession.

"Perhaps most importantly for stocks, the Fed is not there to provide cushion, like before," he added, as the US central bank is raising interest rates to combat inflation.

Downcast earning reports from retailers have heightened market uncertainty at a time of rising interest rates, surging energy prices, China's COVID lockdowns and Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine.

Major stock indices have lost huge portions of their value in recent months.

In Europe, Paris and Frankfurt stocks are down between 14 and 15 per cent, while London's main index has shed a modest 3.9 per cent.

BEIRUT — The cabinet of Lebanon, at its final session on Friday, passed a financial recovery plan needed to secure international aid, but its implementation will depend on the fractious incoming parliament.

The session came five days after Lebanon held its first election since an economic crisis, widely blamed on corruption and negligence by the ruling elite, dragged the country to the brink of becoming a failed state.

"Any delay in implementing the financial recovery plan will be very costly to Lebanese," Prime Minister Najib Mikati said at a press conference after Cabinet met.

The International Monetary Fund and Lebanon in April struck a conditional deal for $3 billion in aid. Enacting reforms, including a financial recovery plan, is one of many prerequisites for the package, and analysts have expressed scepticism that the reforms can take place.

It will be up to the new government and parliament to implement the plan approved by the outgoing Cabinet.

The financial plan passed by ministers includes restructuring and recapitalising the banking system, and protecting small depositors "as much as possible", according to an official document.

Sunday's election yielded a polarised and fragmented legislature likely prone to the kind of deadlock that has characterised Lebanese politics for decades.

This could complicate the formation of a new government and delay implementation of the reforms.

Lebanon has been battered by triple-digit inflation, soaring poverty rates and the collapse of its currency since a 2020 debt default.

In a move adding to the economic pain, the Lebanese Cabinet also raised telecom prices. Starting July, the Internet bill of Lebanon residents will more than double, as will mobile phone bills.

Telecommunications Minister Johnny Corm warned Thursday the cash-strapped sector might collapse if there were no hikes, because current prices were set according to pre-inflation rates. 

The outgoing Lebanese cabinet will continue to function with limited caretaker powers until a new one is formed, a process that could take months.

"I call on elected lawmakers to expedite the formation of a new government," Mikati said.

Also on Friday, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated their call for "structural reforms" in Lebanon.

"They reaffirmed the need to implement the structural reforms necessary for the country's recovery, as expected by the Lebanese population and the international community," the French presidency announced after a telephone conversation between the two leaders.

Macron and Salman also "reaffirmed their willingness to continue their coordination to support the Lebanese population".

JAKARTA — Indonesia will lift its ban on palm oil exports next week, President Joko Widodo said on Thursday, relieving pressure on the global vegetable oil market after prices spiked because of the suspension and the war in Ukraine.

The archipelago nation issued the ban last month to secure supplies of the commodity, used in a range of goods from chocolate spreads to cosmetics, in the face of a domestic shortage.

"Based on the supply... of cooking oil and considering there are 17 million people in the palm oil industry — farmers and other supporting workers — I decided that cooking oil exports will reopen on Monday, May 23," Widodo told an online briefing.

"The government will still be monitoring everything strictly to ensure the demand will be met with affordable prices," he said.

Authorities had rigorously enforced the export ban, with the Indonesian navy seizing a tanker carrying palm oil out of the country in violation of the order earlier this month.

After the ban came into force, Widodo said supplying the country's 270 million people was the "highest priority" of his government. 

But Jakarta came under pressure for further saddling prices that were already skyrocketing after Russia's invasion of agricultural powerhouse Ukraine.

Palm oil producers staged protests last week in the centre of Jakarta and several towns in Indonesia complaining that the prices for palm oil fruits had dropped dramatically.

'Return to normal' 

The Indonesian leader said he was reversing the suspension because the domestic supply and price of cooking oil had improved since the ban came into effect on April 28.

Widodo said prices had fallen from 19,800 rupiah ($1.35) per litre to about 17,200 rupiah ($1.17) since the ban.

Domestic supplies of cooking oil also tripled after the ban from 64,500 tonnes per month to 211,000 tonnes, he said.

Industry figures hailed the decision to resume exports.

Eddy Martono, secretary general of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association said the organisation "is very grateful to the government, especially to the president" for lifting the ban.

"It is a fact that the condition on the ground is very difficult because the tanks have been all full. We hope with the export reopening, the palm oil production can return to normal."

Oil Palm Farmers Association Chairman Gulat Manurung thanked Widodo and said oil palm farmers would repay his decision by boosting domestic supplies. 

"We, oil palm farmers, pledge to help ensure that domestic supplies of cooking oil will be available," he said.

Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in Indonesia and, despite being the world's biggest producer, the country has been facing a cooking oil shortage for months because of poor regulation and producers reluctant to sell at home.

The shortages have in some cases forced consumers to spend hours in queues at distribution centres.

Indonesia produces about 60 per cent of the world's palm oil, with one-third consumed by its domestic market.

 India, China, the European Union and Pakistan are among its major export customers.

LONDON — Standing outside a north London supermarket clutching two shopping bags, Gerald Pursey bemoans Britain's burgeoning cost-of-living crisis which is impacting everything from the weekly shop to his energy bills.

"It's ridiculous! Every time I get out of here [having] bought some stuff, it's more than I thought it was going to be," he told AFP. "Everything's more."

Pursey, 62, drives one of the British capital's iconic black taxis, and notices rising prices most when filling his cab with diesel.

After recently finding a receipt from last August, he calculated the cost at the pump had shot up nearly 30 per cent since then.

"It's depressing that everything's going up... someone's doing well out of it," he complained in pleasant spring sunshine that contrasted his mood.

Inflation has surged to a 40-year high on soaring energy costs, official data showed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, charities warn increasing numbers of people are being pushed into poverty, and forced to rely on services such as foodbanks.

"Today's inflation figure shows just how price rises are impacting on household budgets, with many already feeling the pinch from the pandemic and furlough," said Lindsay Boswell, head of FareShare, which works to alleviate hunger.

She noted a recent survey of the 10,500 UK charities and community groups in its network found the crisis was having a "big impact" on their ability to deliver care and services as well as on families themselves.

"Demand for our food is higher than ever," Boswell added.

Meanwhile, in a sign of people's increasing desperation, Turn2Us, a London-based national charity helping those in poverty, said its helpline had received more than 100,000 calls in the past year from people looking for support.

The main issues people were facing included accessing state benefits and financial help to buy basic goods like a fridge and pay household bills.

'Right on the edge' 

Britain's economy is already showing signs of slowing, with fears it could now slip into recession later this year as the cost-of-living crisis bites.

At a Sainbury's supermarket in London, Crispin Warwick, 52, said simple pleasures like going to a pub for a few beers were "simply not affordable".

Housewife Mary Havens, who has two children, noted she had started to curb her overall spending — exactly the kind of steps that dampens economic growth.

"I've had to cut down on luxury items, on entertainment and stuff like that," she explained.

"Unless we need it, we're not gonna buy it... I'm very worried because obviously it's not going to be easier anytime soon, is it?"

Shoppers' pessimism contrasts with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who reiterated Wednesday that he sees runaway inflation as temporary and the underlying economy as sound.

He is facing persistent calls for an emergency government budget and windfall tax on energy firms reaping record profits, but is reluctant on both fronts, arguing they could exacerbate the crisis.

The government's efforts to confront it so far, including a small cut in fuel duty earlier this year as part of a promised $22 billion in various forms of support, has been seen as woefully inadequate.

"It's frustrating that the Tory government doesn't do anything for the underprivileged," said Brian Elliott, a 54-year-old shopper unable to work for health reasons and also feeling the financial squeeze.

"They don't care," he added, noting he too had pared back his spending on things like clothes.

"[I'm] right on the edge of not being able to afford things... it's depressing."

Pursey is similarly scathing about the government's efforts.

"They've got a lot to answer for," he said, noting the party had been in power nearly a decade-and-a-half.

MUMBAI — Indian state-owned insurance giant LIC slumped on its market debut on Tuesday following the country's biggest-ever initial public offering (IPO), closing nearly eight per cent below the IPO price.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government raised $2.7 billion by selling 3.5 per cent of Life Insurance Corporation of India as his administration seeks to sell off state assets to bolster tattered public finances.

But it was forced to cut back the offer from a planned 5 per cent after markets turned volatile following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's COVID lockdowns.

The offer price of 949 rupees ($12.22) had valued LIC at $77 billion, but the stock traded under pressure all day, closing 7.75 per cent lower at 875.45 rupees a share.

The muted debut could test market appetite as Modi seeks to privatise more shares in nationalised companies to plug an estimated 16.6 trillion rupee ($214 billion) fiscal deficit.

Market analyst Arun Kejriwal said the slump on LIC's first day of trading was a "learning" experience, adding that the government will have to do more to convince investors if it wants to sell more of its stake.

But the IPO saw enthusiastic participation from small investors — including many first-timers — and was oversubscribed nearly three times.

"I knew it won't be a great listing but it doesn't matter to me," said 30-year-old Ayush, a recent market entrant, who was unbowed by the decrease in share price. 

"I bought the shares for the long-term."

Global equities have been tumultuous for most of 2022. Foreign investors have withdrawn a net 1.71 trillion rupees ($22 billion) from Indian markets so far this year, stock exchange data showed, as US monetary policy tightening further roiled sentiment.

Synonymous with life insurance 

India was heavily regulated for decades after independence, and the state still retains an outsize role in the economy.

Hundreds of companies are owned by national or lower-level governments, operating in fields ranging from mining and resources to electricity and construction.

Modi has pledged to "monetise and modernise" the sometimes moribund sector, and the insurance giant's IPO followed a years-long effort by bankers and bureaucrats to appraise the firm and prepare it for listing.

Founded in 1956 by nationalising and combining more than 240 firms, LIC was a monopoly until private companies were allowed to enter the market in 2000.

It continues to lead the pack with a 61 per cent market share and an army of 1.3 million "LIC agents" giving it huge reach, particularly in remote rural areas.

But its dominance has declined steadily in the face of competition from net-savvy private insurers offering specialised products.

The firm warned in its regulatory filing that "there can be no assurance that our corporation will not lose further market share" to private companies.

'Enormous' potential 

In a country where only three per cent of the 1.4 billion population has life insurance, analyst Kejriwal said LIC's potential remains "enormous". 

"It has actually bounced back in the last two-three years. And COVID has seen a turnaround in the fortunes of LIC," he said, pointing to its digitisation efforts.

Going public will also force more transparency on the insurance behemoth.

"The IPO is going to galvanise LIC into being much more effective than it was," Kejriwal added.

LIC is also India's largest asset manager, with 39.55 trillion rupees under management as of September 30, including significant stakes in Indian blue chips such as Reliance and Infosys.

LIC's real estate assets include vast offices at prime urban Indian locations, including a 15-storey office in Chennai that was once the country's tallest building.

The firm is also believed to own a large collection of rare and valuable artwork that includes paintings by MF Husain — known as the Pablo Picasso of India — although the value of these holdings has not been made public.

MANAMA — Saudi Arabia expects to ramp up its daily oil production capacity by more than one million barrels to exceed 13 million barrels by early 2027, the kingdom's energy minister announced on Monday. 

"Most likely it will be 13.2 to 13.4 [million barrels per day, bpd], but that would be [reached] at the end of 2026, beginning 2027," Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman told an energy conference in Bahrain.

Production at that level would be maintained "if the market allows it", he said. 

In March 2020, Aramco announced it had been directed by the energy ministry to increase its maximum sustainable capacity from 12 million to 13 million bpd. 

No timeline was given then for the new target. 

Monday's announcement came one day after Saudi energy giant Aramco posted an 82 per cent jump in first quarter profits, buoyed by a global surge in oil prices stemming from the Ukraine war. 

Those results helped Aramco dethrone Apple last week as the world's most valuable company by market capitalisation. 

They continued a string of positive economic news for Saudi Arabia, which in early May reported that growth in the first quarter had risen 9.6 per cent over the same period in 2021.

Yet, Aramco has faced security challenges stemming from the war pitting a Saudi-led military coalition against Yemen's Houthi rebels who have repeatedly targeted the kingdom, including Aramco sites.

'They still believe in oil' 

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has resisted US entreaties to raise output in an attempt to rein in prices that have spiked since the Ukraine war broke out on February 24. 

As the war got underway, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates stressed their commitment to the OPEC+ oil alliance, which Riyadh and Moscow lead, underscoring Riyadh's and Abu Dhabi's increasing independence from long-standing ally Washington. 

Last year, ahead of the COP26 climate-change summit, Saudi Arabia pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060, sparking scepticism from environmental campaign group Greenpeace. 

With increasing global urgency to limit global warming, experts warn of the urgent need to reduce fossil fuel use. 

But Saudi officials' stated targets indicate "they still believe in oil as a source of energy for the coming decade", Mazen Alsudairi, head of research for Al Rajhi Capital, a financial services firm in Riyadh, said. 

"They are not following the global trend by reducing exposure to hydrocarbons." 

Also at Monday's conference in Bahrain, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail said his country was accelerating its production capacity goals, targeting 6 million bpd in 2027 and eight million bpd in 2029. 

Iraq's current daily production is just under 3.5 million. 

It reported $11 billion in oil revenues in March, Iraq's highest in half-a-century. 

TOKYO — Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group on Thursday logged a record annual net loss after a bruising year that saw its assets hit by a US tech share rout and a regulatory crackdown in China.

SoftBank's big stakes in global tech giants and volatile new ventures have made for unpredictable earnings, and the latest tumble comes with tech shares tanking as the United States hikes interest rates to tackle inflation.

The company reported losses of 1.71 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) in the year to March 2022 — a vertiginous plunge from its nearly 5 trillion yen net profit the previous year, when huge market rallies boosted results.

Reporting an eye-watering investment loss of 3.4 trillion yen, SoftBank said its tech-focused Vision Fund suffered falls "due to a decline in the share prices of most listed portfolio companies".

In the past six months, the tech-rich US Nasdaq index has lost more than 28 per cent of its value.

The Japanese group's losses were deepened by the many shares it holds in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing and e-commerce group Alibaba, which have been hit by a crackdown by Beijing on the country's private sector.

The icing on the cake was the falling yen, which has recently hit 20-year lows as the gap widens between US tightening and Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy.

'Ups and downs' 

In 2019-20, SoftBank Group reported a then-record net loss of 961.6 billion yen, as the emergence of COVID-19 compounded woes caused by its investment in troubled office-sharing start-up WeWork.

But its earnings rebounded in 2020-21 — when it reported Japan's biggest-ever annual net profit — after people moved their lives online during the pandemic, sending tech stocks soaring.

In February, SoftBank said the $40 billion sale of its microchip powerhouse Arm to Nvidia had collapsed because of "significant regulatory challenges" over competition concerns, and it now plans to take the unit public.

Nvidia is one of the world's largest and most valuable computing companies, while British company Arm's tech dominates the global smartphone market.

SoftBank had announced the deal in 2020, when it was valued at $40 billion, although the sum would have been higher now thanks to a rise in Nvidia's share price.

Amir Anvarzadeh of Asymmetric Advisors said "all hopes" were now on Arm going public, but warned that a very high price would eventually prove damaging.

"We suspect anything more than $30 billion for Arm will leave it overvalued and vulnerable to a likely sell-off soon after."

The IPO faces headwinds, including the current market slump which makes a hefty valuation for Arm unlikely, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son conceded the move could be delayed if conditions seemed unfavourable.

Hideki Yasuda, senior analyst at Toyo Securities, said that while the tech sector SoftBank is focused on is not doing well now, it is worth taking the long view.

"It's important for investors to think about what might happen in 20 years," he said before the earnings announcement.

"They must accept ups and downs in the short run," Yasuda said, noting that it took years for Alibaba to become a viable investment for SoftBank.

Son, who has been criticised for an investment strategy seen by some as overly optimistic, sounded an unusually cautious note in a presentation on Thursday.

"When it comes to new investments, we are being more selective," he said.

"As the world is in chaos, we want to make sure that we have plenty of cash... instead of making new investments randomly."

NEW YORK — Elon Musk sent mixed messages on Friday about his proposed Twitter acquisition, pressuring shares of the microblogging platform amid scepticism on whether the deal will close.

In an early morning tweet, Musk said the $44 billion takeover was "temporarily on hold", pending questions over the social media company's estimates of the number of fake accounts or "bots".

That sent Twitter's stock plunging 25 per cent.

Two hours later, the unpredictable Tesla chief executive added a tweet, saying "Still committed to acquisition."

Shares recovered a bit, but traded in the red throughout Friday's session, finishing down nearly 10 per cent at $40.72.

While the reliability of user figures is an important benchmark for assessing revenues of Twitter and other social media companies, analysts generally interpreted Musk's messages as an attempt to pull out of the deal or to try to force a lower price.

"Although we never questioned Musk's ability to complete such a transaction from a financial perspective, we thought the biggest risk was Elon himself having a change of heart," CFRA Research's Angelo Zino said in an analyst's note.

He said the move gives Musk "leverage" and increases the chance "that he either adjusts his offer price downward or just completely walks away".

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Parag Agrawal took to the platform to explain moves earlier this week to shake up company leadership and freeze most hiring."While I expect the deal to close, we need to be prepared for all scenarios and always do what's right for Twitter," Agrawal said. "I’m accountable for leading and operating Twitter, and our job is to build a stronger Twitter every day."

Scepticism in market 

The chief of SpaceX as well as Tesla, Musk is currently listed by Forbes as the world's wealthiest person, with a fortune of some $232 billion, much of it in Tesla stock.

Seen by his champions as an iconoclastic genius and by his critics as an erratic megalomaniac, Musk surprised many investors with his pursuit of Twitter.

Musk has described his motivation as stemming from a desire to ensure freedom of speech on the platform and to boost monetisation of an Internet site that is influential in media and political circles but has struggled to attain profitable growth.

On Tuesday, Musk said he favoured lifting the ban on Donald Trump, who was kicked off the platform in January 2021 shortly after the former US president's efforts to overturn his election defeat led to the January 6 assault on the US Capitol.

Analysts have said the site can boost Musk's other ventures, including Tesla, which so far has grown without following the auto-industry custom of spending heavily on marketing.

But markets have shown scepticism since the April 28 announcement that the Twitter board agreed to sell at $54.20 a share.

The share price has lagged that level, suggesting investors viewed deal closure as not assured, and has fallen further as the broader tech market retreated this week.

 'Horror show' 

In his first tweet about the deal on Friday, Musk linked to an article from May 2 referencing Twitter's latest filing to US regulators.

The document said an internal review showed Twitter had 229 million "monetisable daily active users" in the first quarter of this year, and just five per cent were regarded as false or spam accounts. 

Analyst Dan Ives from Wedbush said the "circus show" was likely to translate into a "Friday 13th horror show".

"The nature of Musk creating so much uncertainty in a tweet [and not a filing] is very troubling," he said.

Musk has gotten into hot water with regulators over his tweets in the past, but the Twitter purchase agreement includes a clause specifying that he is free to tweet about the deal provided his posts "do not disparage the company or any of its representatives". "Market analyst Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Landsdown said the takeover bid "risks hitting the skids".

There will be questions "over whether fake accounts are the real reason behind this delaying tactic", Streeter said, adding that "it may be a strategy to row back on the amount he is prepared to pay to acquire the platform".

Musk's potential stewardship of the social media site has hit several bumps since the takeover attempt was made public, and sparked worry from activists, over lifting of the Trump ban as well as the possibility the new owner would open the gates to abusive and misinformative posts.

US media have reported that the transaction is being investigated by regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with which Musk has frequently clashed.

The SEC is probing Musk's tardy disclosure of his stake in Twitter, according to The Wall Street Journal.