Elon Musk is in settlement talks with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a lawsuit the regulator filed last year. The SEC accused the world's richest man of violating securities laws before acquiring Twitter. In court documents filed on Tuesday, the SEC disclosed that it was "consulting with Musk on potential solutions that may avoid subsequent litigation."
The SEC initially filed suit in January 2025, and the case is currently pending in federal court in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, a separate class-action lawsuit filed against Musk by former Twitter investors is advancing in federal court in San Francisco, with a jury expected to deliberate soon.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and renamed it X the following year. Before the acquisition, he held more than 5% of Twitter shares, which required him to publicly disclose his holdings within 10 calendar days after reaching that threshold, but Musk failed to submit disclosure documents in time.
The SEC's complaint alleges that Musk's failure to disclose his holdings allowed him to buy shares "at artificially low prices," putting other investors at a disadvantage.
Musk previously settled an SEC securities fraud civil lawsuit against Tesla. Under the settlement, Musk and his car companies will each have to pay a fine of $20 million, and Musk will also have to temporarily step down as chairman of Tesla's board of directors.