Iconix Brand Group Inc (NASDAQ:ICON) investigation.
The rapper and businessman — born Shawn Carter — was issued the subpoena after he failed to testify during an investigation of accounting practices at Iconix, which paid $200 million to buy assets from his apparel brand Rocawear in 2007. The SEC is seeking Jay-Z’s testimony after the company wrote down the value of Rocawear by $169 million in March 2016 and another $34 million this year.
The initial SEC subpoena came in November, while the agency issued a second subpoena in February after the hip-hop mogul retained new counsel. Carter, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, failed to appear as required by the subpoenas and has not offered any additional dates on which he will agree to show up for investigative testimony as suggested by his counsel, according to the regulators.
The rapper’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, has not mentioned a reason why the SEC wanted to talk to Jay-Z. “We are aware that the SEC is seeking information on Iconix’s financial reporting,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “Mr. Carter had no role in that reporting or Iconix’ s other actions as a public company. Mr. Carter is a private citizen who should not be involved in this matter.”
ICON shares fell 7.8% after the bell Thursday.
