Musk agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC said he harmed shareholder interests by failing to promptly disclose an increase in his holdings in Twitter in 2022. The fine will be paid out of a revocable trust in Musk's name to end the SEC's lawsuit, a plan that still requires court approval, according to documents filed Monday. The documents show that Musk did not admit to the regulator’s accusations.
The fine is far less than what Musk's lawyers said the SEC originally requested. According to a letter from Musk’s lawyers to regulators, the SEC asked Musk to pay more than $200 million to reach a settlement in December 2024.
The SEC filed a lawsuit a few days before Trump took office in January 2025, accusing Musk of failing to disclose his holdings of more than 5% of Twitter within the prescribed period. The regulator said the delay cost Twitter shareholders more than $150 million. Musk subsequently acquired the company in 2022 and renamed it X.
An SEC spokesman said that if the agreement is finalized, it would be the largest penalty the agency has ever imposed on an individual or entity for failing to file a timely beneficial ownership report.
However, Musk's lawyer said it was only a "small fine."
"As we promised from the beginning, Mr. Musk has now clarified all issues related to the late filing of documents in the Twitter acquisition case," Musk's attorney Alex Spiro said in a statement. "A trust has agreed to pay a small penalty for the late filing of one of the documents."
The SEC initially sought civil penalties and disgorgement plus interest. The agreement announced Monday involves only civil monetary penalties.