Elon Musk has agreed to a $1.5 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following a dispute regarding his disclosure of a significant stake in Twitter. The agreement allows Musk to pay the fee without admitting any wrongdoing, with the SEC dropping its case against him, the regulator announced.
If approved by a court, the settlement will conclude a lengthy confrontation involving Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022. The SEC launched its investigation after Musk delayed reporting that he had acquired more than a 5 percent stake in Twitter by 11 days, which the agency claimed cost Twitter shareholders over $150 million.
Throughout the investigation, the SEC alleged that Musk engaged in “gamesmanship” to delay compliance with a subpoena. Musk countered by accusing then-SEC chair Gary Gensler of “harassment.” Gensler resigned shortly after the SEC initiated legal action against Musk.
The $1.5 million penalty is noted to be “the largest in SEC history for the type of violation he was accused of,” according to Reuters.
