Elon Musk, SEC in Settlement Talks Over Lawsuit Tied to Twitter Acquisition

Elon Musk is in discussions with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a lawsuit filed by the regulator last year accusing the billionaire of violating securities laws in the run-up to his takeover of Twitter.

In a court filing on Tuesday, the SEC said it is “engaged in discussions of a potential resolution that would mean further proceedings might not be necessary” in the case against Musk.

The regulator filed the lawsuit in January 2025, and the matter is currently before a federal court in Washington, D.C.. Meanwhile, a separate class-action lawsuit brought by former Twitter investors against Musk is moving through a federal court in San Francisco, where a jury is expected to deliberate soon.

Musk, chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and rebranded the platform as X the following year. Before completing the acquisition, he had built a stake of more than 5 per cent in the company — a threshold that requires investors to publicly disclose their holdings within 10 calendar days.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Musk failed to make that disclosure on time, enabling him to continue purchasing shares at what the regulator described as “artificially low prices”, thereby disadvantaging other investors.

Lawyers representing Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while the SEC declined to comment on the ongoing discussions.

Musk has previously settled civil securities fraud charges brought by the SEC in relation to Tesla. In that case, both Musk and the electric-vehicle maker agreed to pay $20 million each in penalties, and Musk temporarily stepped down as chairman of Tesla’s board.

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