Tesla CEO Elon Musk is unquestionably a smart guy. He can also sometimes be a smartass. But you have to be smart to be a smartass. Musk fits the bill and his latest Twitter comment is proof. Just a couple of days before Christmas, Musk commented on the status of Tesla's latest stock prices, which had just hit $420 per share.

And then the smartass comment came: "Whoa… the stock is so high lol". Turns out this was also the, uh…. highest that Tesla's stock has ever been valued at. The share price later peaked at $422 before closing at $419.22. Aside from the obvious weed joke, the $420 figure also previously got him into trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That whole ordeal began in August 2018 when Musk said he was "considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." The SEC soon accused him of misleading investors and a serious investigation began. It was settled months later but it came at a price for both Musk and Tesla.

Each agreed to pay a $20 million fine and Musk was forced to step down as chairman of Tesla for at least three years. Musk also had to receive preapproval for any written communications, such as social media posts "that contain or reasonably could contain information material to Tesla or its shareholders." Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for Musk and the SEC to butt heads again.

Last February, the SEC filed a claim against Musk for failing to comply with the signed agreement after he tweeted this: "Tesla made 0 cars in 2011, but will make around 500k in 2019." That 500k figure was only made possible because the company finally resolved numerous Tesla Model 3 production issues. A judge urged both parties to reach some sort of an agreement. Musk simply couldn't help himself to antagonize the SEC once more just before Christmas.

Will this latest tweet get him into trouble again? Or, will the SEC just see it as an immature stoner joke? 2020 could get off to an interesting start.