Tag: Twitter

HomeTag: Twitter

Elon Musk is above the law

May 6, 2026, 7:40 am Industry, Top

We’ve talked about this case a bunch of times before. Basically Musk bought 5% of Twitter’s stock, which triggered a requirement that he disclose his stake within 10 days. But he didn’t, and kept buying more stock secretly. When he ultimately did disclose his stake, the stock predictably shot up; by delaying his disclosure, he saved himself about $150 million at the expense of Twitter shareholders. The SEC, back when it didn’t like Musk, sued him for the $150 million. The new SEC changed its mind and settled for $1.5 million. […]

But if the rules aren’t binding, well. Musk paid effectively a 1% tax on his savings. “If you’re economic activist investors with political connections,” a reader emailed me, “why would you ever file a 13D on time again? Just run the same playbook and you’re fine.”

Source: Elon Musk is above the law

SEC to Settle Lawsuit Against Elon Musk Over Twitter Share Purchases – WSJ

May 5, 2026, 7:34 am SEC, Top

The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to settle a lawsuit against Elon Musk over allegations that he failed to timely disclose his purchase of shares in Twitter in 2022 as he took control of the social-media network he later renamed X.

Musk’s family trust would pay a $1.5 million fine to resolve the SEC’s claims, according to a court filing on Monday. The penalty is a steep discount from the amount regulators sought when they filed the case at the end of the Biden administration. At the time, regulators wanted Musk to pay back money he allegedly saved by delaying notice of his stock purchases. The settlement requires court approval.

The SEC filed the case against Musk days before President Trump began his second term and Musk assumed a role in the president’s administration as the leader of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and Trump later fell out, trading barbs and insults, and Musk walked away from his involvement in Washington.

The decision underscores the SEC’s shift away from aggressive enforcement under the Trump administration. It also marks a shift in its relations with Musk, who has a long history of feuding with the agency. Musk paid a $20 million fine in 2018 to settle an SEC lawsuit over statements he made on social media about Tesla, the electric-vehicle maker where he is chief executive.

Source: SEC to Settle Lawsuit Against Elon Musk Over Twitter Share Purchases – WSJ

Musk, SEC Say Fight Over Twitter Share Stockpile May Go to Trial – Bloomberg

April 2, 2026, 7:35 am SEC, Top

Elon Musk and the US Securities Exchange Commission told a judge they are heading toward a trial over the regulator’s allegations that the billionaire cheated Twitter Inc. investors before his 2022 buyout of the social media platform.

The joint status report filed Wednesday in Washington federal court comes just two weeks after lawyers said they were engaged in talks about “potential resolution” of the lawsuit the SEC filed in January 2025. The attorneys said in the new filing that they and their clients discussed alternative dispute resolution options.

“The parties do not believe that this case would benefit at this time from the court’s ADR procedures or any other form of ADR,” according to the filing.

Source: Musk, SEC Say Fight Over Twitter Share Stockpile May Go to Trial – Bloomberg

Jury in Rare Securities Suit Trial Finds Musk Misled Twitter Investors | The D&O Diary

March 23, 2026, 6:53 am Class Actions, Top

The Verdict

The jurors returned a split verdict. The jury did find that plaintiff had sufficiently established that two of Musk’s tweets – the May 13 tweet (“deal temporarily on hold”) and May 17 tweet (deal “cannot move forward” because more than 20% of traffic is fake) – misled investors. However, the jury also found that the plaintiff had not sufficiently established his claims of an overall “scheme to defraud” Twitter investors, and that the plaintiff had not established that other statements by Musk were misleading.

The jury determined the value of shareholders’ losses, but it did not determine an aggregate or total amount of damages. Rather, the jurors were asked to determine the amount of damages incurred on each of the 98 trading days during the class period. The jury determined that the per-share, per-day damages across the period ranged between $3 and $8 dollars a day. In the Law360 article, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers is quoted as saying that the aggregate damages could total $2.6 billion.

The Law360 article quotes one of Musk’s counsel as saying that “we look forward to vindication on appeal.”

Source: Jury in Rare Securities Suit Trial Finds Musk Misled Twitter Investors | The D&O Diary

Elon Musk Misled Twitter Investors Before 2022 Buyout, Jury Says – Bloomberg

March 20, 2026, 5:44 pm Class Actions, Top

Elon Musk defrauded Twitter Inc. investors when he disparaged the company in 2022 in an effort to buy the social media platform for a lower price than his original $44 billion bid, a jury concluded.

Jurors in federal court in San Francisco found Friday that Musk intentionally misled Twitter shareholders when he tweeted that the social network — now called X — had too many fake accounts and tried to back out of the deal.

The jury calculated how much Musk’s statements drove down the company’s stock price for each trading day over a period of about five months. The amount of damages he must pay to individual investors — which could total hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars — will be determined at a later date.

Source: Elon Musk Misled Twitter Investors Before 2022 Buyout, Jury Says – Bloomberg

Musk’s Go-To Attorney Has Testimony Limited in Twitter Trial

March 11, 2026, 7:23 am Class Actions, Top

Elon Musk’s top attorney, Alex Spiro, took the stand as a witness Tuesday for a few minutes, after Judge Charles R. Breyer significantly limited what Spiro could say to the jury in a trial over Musk’s turbulent 2022 Twitter acquisition.

The celebrity lawyer of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has a long record of defending the billionaire tech mogul in cases around the country, including when Twitter sued Musk in Delaware to force him to follow through on his $44 billion purchase agreement. Musk’s statements during that period are under fire from investors who say they lost money because things Musk said on Twitter moved the stock price.

“There is no question he is the most important witness in this case,” Breyer told attorneys for Musk and the investors while the jury was outside the courtroom. But Musk has asserted attorney-client privilege so Spiro’s “most important testimony” can’t be produced, Breyer said.

Attorneys for investors suing Musk fought for months to disqualify Spiro as Musk’s attorney because they argued he was a key witness at the heart of the case who had first-hand knowledge of Musk’s acquisition. Breyer, a trial judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California, ultimately rejected their arguments and allowed Spiro to serve as both as Musk’s attorney and a witness.

But the judge throughout the trial has expressed concerns about witnesses veering too far into testimony implicating attorney-client privilege, which he has ruled is off limits in the case.

Source: Musk’s Go-To Attorney Has Testimony Limited in Twitter Trial

Musk: SEC Disclosure Claim Represents Targeted Application of Unclear Rule | Law.com

February 19, 2026, 7:21 am SEC, Top

Elon Musk answered the SEC’s disclosure violation claim against him on Tuesday with a filing that claims the agency has zeroed in on his acquisition of Twitter for a case it wouldn’t normally pursue involving a rule he says is unconstitutional. In the filing, Musk presented 14 defenses in total. They mirror arguments U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan for…

Read More

SEC v. Musk: Federal Court Addresses Constitutionality of Section 13(d) — TheCorporateCounsel. net Blog

February 6, 2026, 7:24 am SEC, Top

The D.C. federal district court recently addressed Elon Musk’s motion to dismiss the highly anticipated SEC lawsuit regarding Musk’s publicly scrutinized Twitter stock beneficial ownership reporting back in 2022. Musk had disclosed his ownership stake in Twitter on a Schedule 13G, more than 20 days after crossing the 5% threshold, and one day before filing a 13D reporting that he’d…

Read More