Elon Musk Faces SEC Lawsuit Over Delayed Twitter Stock Disclosure

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is facing a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly failing to disclose his early stock purchases of Twitter within the required timeframe. The SEC claims that Musk violated federal securities laws by delaying the disclosure of his acquisition of 5% of Twitter's shares by 11 days in 2022, during which he continued to buy shares worth over $500 million at artificially low prices. By the time Musk revealed his 9.2% ownership on April 4, 2022, Twitter's share price surged by more than 27%.

The lawsuit, filed in a Washington, DC federal court, seeks to impose a civil fine on Musk and recover profits made from the delayed disclosure. Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, dismissed the case as part of the SEC's “harassment” campaign, claiming that the allegations involve a minor administrative oversight.

Musk, who eventually purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and rebranded it as X, has had a tumultuous history with the SEC. Notably, he faced a $20 million fine in 2018 over controversial tweets about taking Tesla private.

The case comes amid broader legal challenges for Musk, including lawsuits from former Twitter shareholders and scrutiny over his business practices. With SEC Chair Gary Gensler set to step down, the case’s outcome could shape the regulatory landscape under the new leadership.