A federal judge has approved a settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Elon Musk over his delayed disclosure of Twitter share purchases in 2022.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan approved the deal but expressed "significant misgivings." She questioned whether the Trump administration let the world's richest person off too easily, stating the court's role is limited but the decision is for the public to judge.
The settlement requires a trust in Musk's name to pay $1.5 million. The SEC alleged Musk waited 11 days too long to disclose his early Twitter stock buys in March and April 2022, a delay that reportedly saved him $150 million. Musk called the delay inadvertent.
He eventually acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and rebranded it as X. The platform is now part of his SpaceX rocket and satellite company. Musk also leads Tesla and is valued at over $900 billion.
The judge specifically questioned why the SEC dropped its demand for Musk to give up ill-gotten gains to compensate alleged victims. She also wondered if the settlement, which allows Musk to publicly state he was cleared, was a "one-time deal" not afforded to other alleged violators.
The settlement was announced in May after the departure of the SEC's former enforcement chief.