S.E.C. Settles Lawsuit Against Elon Musk Over His Twitter Disclosures
The agency, which has been pulling back on lawsuits against major companies, ended a case that had accused Mr. Musk of hiding his purchases of Twitter stock. He agreed to pay $1.5 million.
The agency, which has been pulling back on lawsuits against major companies, ended a case that had accused Mr. Musk of hiding his purchases of Twitter stock. He agreed to pay $1.5 million.
The Securities and Exchange Commission reached a $1.5 million settlement with Elon Musk on Monday in a lawsuit that accused the world’s richest person of breaking securities law during his purchase of Twitter, now called X.
The S.E.C. had said Mr. Musk hid purchases of the social media company’s stock in 2022 and did not disclose them in a timely manner, allowing him to underpay when he bought Twitter for $44 billion later that year. Mr. Musk’s revocable trust will pay the settlement, according to a filing in federal court in Washington. The judge has not yet approved the agreement.
The settlement ends a Biden administration-era case against Mr. Musk, 54, a former adviser to President Trump. Since last year, the Trump administration has pulled back on some of the most aggressive law enforcement over allegations of corporate malfeasance. Notably, the S.E.C. retreated from a swath of lawsuits against the cryptocurrency industry. Government officials also settled over the last year with the targets of antitrust and consumer protection lawsuits, including Amazon and Live Nation, the owner of Ticketmaster.
The agreement helps Mr. Musk reduce his legal entanglements as his space venture, SpaceX, prepares for an initial public offering. The rocket maker, which owns X, could go public as soon as June in what is expected to be a generational wealth-making event. SpaceX has valued itself at more than $1 trillion.
The S.E.C. said the settlement was the largest penalty ever for the type of case that had been brought against Mr. Musk. In a statement, his lawyer Alex Spiro said: “Mr. Musk has now been cleared of all issues related to the late filing of forms in the Twitter acquisition, as we said from the outset he would be. A trust vehicle has agreed to a small fine for being late on one filing.”
Mr. Musk previously criticized the former S.E.C. chairman who brought the lawsuit, Gary Gensler. Mr. Musk had said on X that the agency’s claims were politically motivated.
