Musk, SEC in talks to settle lawsuit over Twitter takeover
What's the story
Elon Musk is in talks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle a lawsuit over his Twitter acquisition. The SEC sued Musk last year for allegedly violating securities laws during his Twitter buyout. In a court filing on Tuesday, the SEC revealed that it is "engaged in discussions of a potential resolution that would mean further proceedings might not be necessary" with Musk.
Case details
SEC alleges Musk delayed disclosure of Twitter stake
The SEC filed the lawsuit in January 2025, which is currently being heard in a federal court in Washington, D.C. The regulator alleges that Musk delayed disclosing his initial Twitter stake of over 5% in late March and early April 2022. This delay, according to the SEC, allowed him to buy more than $500 million worth of shares at artificially low prices.
Ongoing litigation
Musk has settled civil securities fraud charges with SEC before
Musk has defended himself by calling the delay inadvertent and accusing the SEC of infringing on his free speech rights. He previously settled civil securities fraud charges with the SEC at Tesla, paying $20 million in fines. Separately, a class-action lawsuit filed by former Twitter investors against Musk is also pending in a federal court in San Francisco.
Financial standing
Musk's net worth tops $830 billion
Despite the ongoing legal battles, Musk remains the world's richest man with a net worth of $834 billion as of Monday, according to Forbes. His wealth is more than three times that of Google co-founder Larry Page. X, formerly Twitter, is now part of Musk's rocket and satellite company SpaceX after it acquired his artificial intelligence company xAI last month.