Billionaire investor and entrepreneur Elon Musk solved an unsolved case with Securities and Exchange Commission. The enforcement action was related to Musk’s takeover of Twitter, now called X.
The allegation was that Musk delayed the announcement about his purchase of Twitter shares and therefore violated notification rules.
According to multiple reports, the settlement carries a penalty of $1.5 million.
According to reports, Musk cleared the then-public firm’s 5% holding barrier on March 14, 2022. The deadline to notify owners was ten days later on March 24, but Musk did not file by then.
Musk eventually completed the required form on April 4, 2022, potentially saving millions of dollars; because the value of Twitter shares would increase when Musk announced his interest in purchasing shares in the company. On April 4, 2022, Twitter’s shares rose 27%.
Musk was sued by the SEC in January 2025 for violating established rules.
Musk eventually bought Twitter, snagging it for $44 billion in cash, or $54.20 per share. Before the deal was announced, Twitter was valued at around $41 billion.
xAI acquired X in March 2025 for $33 billion in equity. The merged company is very different today than when Musk bought it; This is described as saving freedom of expression due to extreme bias from upper management at Twitter.
$1.5 million is a very small figure for Musk, the richest person on the planet.
It is also believed that X has not yet crossed the profitability threshold.
