Elon Musk looks on as President Donald Trump speaks at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Nov. 19, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
Elon Musk is in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a lawsuit filed by the regulator last year accusing the world’s richest person of violating securities law in the run-up to 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.
The SEC initially filed the suit in January 2025, and the case is proceeding in a federal court in Washington. A separate, class-action lawsuit filed by former Twitter investors against Musk is now winding its way through a federal court in San Francisco, with a jury expected to deliberate soon.
Musk, who is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, purchased Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and changed its name to X the following year. Prior to the acquisition, he’d built up a position in the company of greater than 5%, which would’ve required disclosing his holdings to the public within 10 calendar days of reaching that threshold. He was late to file that disclosure.
The SEC said in its complaint that Musk’s failure to disclose the stake allowed him to buy shares at “artificially low prices,” putting other investors at a disadvantage.
Attorneys for Musk and the SEC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk previously settled civil securities fraud charges brought by the SEC at Tesla. Musk and his auto company each had to pay $20 million in fines, and Musk had to temporarily relinquish his role as chairman of the Tesla board.
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