Elon Musk Faces Charges as SEC Demands Settlement Over X Acquisition

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is demanding a settlement over its ongoing investigation into his 2022 acquisition of X (formerly Twitter). The SEC is investigating whether Musk violated securities laws by failing to disclose his stock purchases of the social media platform within the required timeframe.

Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, shared a letter on social media outlining the SEC’s demand for Musk to agree to a fine or face multiple charges. According to the SEC, the demand stems from higher-level directives, and charges will be filed unless Musk complies. However, Musk has refused to comply with the settlement.

The letter also revealed that Spiro had been subpoenaed to testify but declined, and that the SEC had reopened an investigation into Musk’s brain-machine interface company, Neuralink. Spiro accused the SEC of politically motivated actions against Musk and his businesses.

The conflict with the SEC began after Musk purchased a 9% stake in Twitter in April 2022, just before completing his $44 billion acquisition of the company later that year. The SEC contended that Musk failed to disclose his stock purchase within the legally required 10-day window. Musk subsequently rebranded Twitter as X following the acquisition.