Federal authorities investigating Tesla over secret project to build Austin home for Musk: report

Federal authorities are investigating Tesla over its alleged use of company funds on a secret project to build CEO Elon Musk a home in Austin, Texas, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is reportedly seeking information about how much Tesla spent on the endeavor, known as “Project 42,” and what it was for.

The Manhattan-based prosecutors also inquired about personal benefits paid to the billionaire chief executive, who separately runs SpaceX and owns X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the Journal reported.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also reportedly opened a civil investigation into the secret project, which was the subject of an internal inquiry at Tesla.

Project 42 laid out plans for a glass-walled building near Tesla’s Austin headquarters, which was described internally as a house for Musk, according to the Journal. 

The project caught the attention of Tesla lawyers and board members after an order was placed for millions of dollars’ worth of specialized glass. 

The glass order led to an investigation into how much employee time was spent on the project, whether company resources had been misused and whether Musk was involved, the Journal reported. The outcome of the investigation remains unknown.

A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and Tesla did not respond to The Hill’s requests for comment.