Elon Musk has resolved a civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2022, accusing him of a delayed disclosure regarding his initial Twitter purchases, now known as X. As part of the settlement revealed in a Washington, D.C., federal court on Monday, a trust in Musk’s name will pay a $1.5 million US civil fine.
Although Musk did not admit any wrongdoing, he will not forfeit any of the $150 million he purportedly saved due to the delay. The settlement is subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, who had previously rejected Musk’s attempt to dismiss the case in February.
This settlement marks the end of over seven years of contentious disputes between Musk and the regulator, which began in September 2018 when the SEC accused him of securities fraud for tweeting about having secured funding to potentially privatize his electric car company Tesla.
Musk settled the previous case by paying a $20 million civil fine, allowing Tesla lawyers to review certain Twitter posts beforehand, and relinquishing his position as Tesla’s chairman. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, stated that Musk has now been vindicated of all issues related to the delayed filing of forms in the Twitter acquisition, as anticipated from the beginning.
In a separate lawsuit filed in January 2025, the SEC alleged that Musk’s 11-day delay in disclosing his initial five percent Twitter stake in late March and early April 2022 allowed him to purchase over $500 million worth of shares at artificially low prices. Musk later revealed a 9.2 percent stake. The SEC contended that Musk should pay a civil fine and reimburse the $150 million he allegedly saved at the expense of unsuspecting investors.
Musk attributed the delay to inadvertence and accused the SEC of infringing on his free speech rights by targeting him. The SEC filed the lawsuit six days before the end of former U.S. President Joe Biden’s term in office, just before Donald Trump took over. The current SEC Chairman, Paul Atkins, has been redirecting the regulator’s enforcement focus.
The $1.5 million penalty, as noted by Robert Frenchman, a partner at the Dynamis law firm in New York, is considered a “modest sum for the richest person on the planet” but serves as a deterrent against similar violations by others. Musk concluded the $44 billion Twitter acquisition in October 2022 and subsequently integrated Twitter into his artificial intelligence company xAI, which was later absorbed by his rocket company SpaceX. According to Forbes magazine, Musk’s net worth is estimated at $789.9 billion.
The settlement discussions between both parties began on March 17, the day after SEC enforcement chief Margaret Ryan abruptly resigned from her position after just over six months. The case is distinct from another civil lawsuit where a San Francisco jury found Musk liable on March 20 for defrauding Twitter shareholders following the acquisition announcement. Shareholders in that class action claimed losses due to Musk’s statements affecting Twitter’s stock price, estimating potential damages of $2.5 billion.
Musk’s attorneys, including Spiro, are seeking the dismissal of that case or a new trial, citing bias and prejudice against Musk. Despite overseeing multiple companies with regulatory scrutiny, Musk led a cost-cutting initiative for the second Trump administration in early 2025 before returning to his private sector ventures.
Recently, Musk testified for three days in federal court in Oakland, California, regarding a lawsuit involving OpenAI, which he considers his brainchild. Musk alleges that OpenAI deviated from its charitable objectives and should revert to being a nonprofit entity. He is seeking $150 million in damages and the removal of OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and CEO Sam Altman from the company’s leadership.