US SEC, Musk to argue for Twitter settlement before DC judge

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Attorneys for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Elon Musk will appear before a federal judge on Wednesday to argue for their $1.5 million settlement over the billionaire’s purchase of Twitter, potentially shedding further light on the years-long dispute between the parties.

The settlement would resolve an SEC lawsuit accusing Musk of waiting too long in April 2022 to disclose he had amassed a 5% stake in Twitter and saving $150 million as a result. Musk, the world’s richest person, bought Twitter for $44 billion six months later.

U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington, D.C., said last week that before approving the settlement, she must consider several factors including its fairness to both sides, whether it is consistent with the public interest, and whether it is “tainted by improper collusion or corruption.”

She ordered both sides to appear in court on Wednesday and be prepared to propose a timeline to file briefs supporting the settlement.

The SEC sued Musk on January 14, 2025, six days before then-Democratic President Joe Biden left the White House.

Musk is a former adviser to Republican President Donald Trump and has claimed the lawsuit was politically motivated. He has also said the delayed disclosure was inadvertent.

The Trump administration has curtailed some types of corporate enforcement activity as current SEC Chairman Paul Atkins refocuses the regulator’s priorities.

Former SEC enforcement chief Margaret Ryan, who left abruptly in March after just six months on the job, had clashed with agency leaders over the direction of its enforcement program, Reuters reported.

The settlement did not require Musk to admit wrongdoing or give up money he allegedly saved. As a result, the penalty was a fraction of what the SEC originally sought but was still the largest in SEC history for the type of violation he was accused of, a person familiar with the settlement said at the time.