Elon Musk settles SEC lawsuit over Twitter disclosures, $1.5 million fine imposed
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, May 4 : Elon Musk settled the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil lawsuit accusing the world’s richest person of waiting too long in 2022 to disclose his initial purchases of Twitter, now known as X. A trust in Musk’s name will pay a $1.5 million civil penalty, without admitting wrongdoing. Musk won’t have to give up any money he allegedly saved from the delay. The settlement was disclosed on Monday in the Washington, D.C., federal court. In its January 2025 lawsuit, the SEC said Musk’s 11-day delay in revealing his initial 5 per cent Twitter stake in late March and early April 2022 let him buy more than $500 million of shares at artificially low prices, before he finally revealed a 9.2 per cent stake. The SEC had argued that Musk should pay a civil fine and repay the $150 million he allegedly saved at the expense of unsuspecting investors. Musk called the delay inadvertent, and accused the SEC of violating his free speech rights by targeting him. “Mr. Musk has now been cleared of all …
