Elon Musk has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after a years-long dispute with the regulator over the timing of disclosure of his acquisition of a significant stake in Twitter. The regulator said Musk agreed to pay a $1.5 million fee without admitting wrongdoing in exchange for the SEC dropping its case.
If the deal is approved by the court, it will end the long battle over how they launched a $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022. The SEC began investigating Musk the same year over his 11-day delay in disclosing that he had acquired more than a 5 percent stake in the company. The SEC argued in a lawsuit that that gap ultimately saved Musk more than $150 million at the expense of Twitter shareholders.
During its investigation, the SEC accused Musk of using “gamesmanship” to circumvent its investigation as he repeatedly dodged the regulator’s subpoenas. Musk, in turn, accused then-SEC Chairman Gary Gensler of “harassment.” Gensler left his post days after the lawsuit was filed against Musk after President Donald Trump took office.
The $1.5 million fine is “the largest in SEC history for the type of violations they were charged with,” according to Reuters.
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