Elon Musk has reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding allegations that he delayed disclosing his initial Twitter purchases in 2022. A trust in Musk’s name will pay a $1.5 million civil fine as part of the settlement unveiled in a Washington, D.C., federal court hearing on Monday.
The settlement, which does not require Musk to admit any wrongdoing, stipulates that he will not have to forfeit any of the $150 million he is said to have saved due to the delay. The agreement is subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, who had previously rejected Musk’s attempt to have the case dismissed in February.
This settlement brings to a close a more than seven-year-long conflict between Musk and the regulatory body, which began in September 2018 when the SEC accused him of securities fraud for claiming he had secured funding to potentially take Tesla private.
Musk had resolved that case by paying a $20 million civil penalty, allowing Tesla’s legal team to preview certain Twitter posts, and relinquishing his position as Tesla’s chairman. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, stated, “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.”
The SEC declined to provide a comment on the settlement. In a lawsuit filed in January 2025, the SEC alleged that Musk’s 11-day delay in disclosing his initial five percent stake in Twitter allowed him to purchase over $500 million worth of shares at artificially low prices before finally revealing a 9.2 percent stake.
Musk defended the delay as unintentional and accused the SEC of infringing on his freedom of speech. The SEC filed the lawsuit just six days before the end of former U.S. President Joe Biden’s term and the start of Donald Trump’s presidency. The current SEC Chairman, Paul Atkins, has been redirecting the agency’s enforcement priorities.
The $1.5 million penalty, according to Robert Frenchman, a partner at the Dynamis law firm in New York, may seem like a modest sum for the wealthiest individual globally but could serve as a deterrent against similar violations by others. Musk finalized the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, integrating it into his artificial intelligence company xAI, which was later merged into his space exploration company SpaceX. Forbes magazine estimates Musk’s net worth at $789.9 billion.
In a separate ongoing civil lawsuit related to Twitter, a San Francisco jury ruled on March 20 that Musk had deceived Twitter shareholders by announcing the buyout. Shareholders alleged that Musk’s comments caused Twitter’s stock price to drop, leading to their financial losses. They estimate potential damages amounting to $2.5 billion.
Musk’s legal team is seeking to dismiss the case or secure a new trial, citing bias and prejudice against the defendant. Despite overseeing companies with government engagements and facing multiple regulatory inquiries, Musk spearheaded cost-cutting efforts during the second Trump administration in early 2025 through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative before returning to his private sector endeavors.
Recently, Musk testified for several hours in federal court regarding a lawsuit concerning OpenAI, an organization he co-founded. Musk claims that OpenAI deviated from its charitable objectives by becoming a for-profit entity and is seeking damages of $150 million along with the removal of certain executives from the company’s leadership.