Elon Musk has agreed to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit accusing him of violating securities laws by failing to timely disclose his growing stake in Twitter in 2022, with a trust in his name paying a $1.5 million civil penalty.
The settlement, filed Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., resolves the SEC’s January 2025 lawsuit without Musk admitting or denying wrongdoing. It does not require him to repay any alleged savings from the delay.
The SEC alleged that Musk waited 11 days beyond the legal deadline to disclose that his stake in Twitter (now X) had exceeded 5% in late March and early April 2022. Federal rules require investors to publicly disclose ownership above that threshold within 10 calendar days.
Regulators claimed this move disadvantaged other shareholders and enabled Musk to save approximately $150 million. The proposed settlement still requires approval by a federal judge.
Musk began accumulating Twitter shares in early 2022 as part of his path to acquiring the company for $44 billion later that year. The disclosure issue became a focal point in the SEC’s scrutiny of the high-profile takeover.
This marks the latest chapter in Musk’s long-running tensions with the SEC, including a prior 2018 settlement over his “funding secured” tweet about taking Tesla private. Musk’s legal team has described the $1.5 million penalty as minor for a late filing.