Jul. 9 at 2:05 AM
A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday approved the
$1.5 billion settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Elon Musk over his 2022 purchases of Twitter shares, while expressing significant reservations about the agreement. U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said she had "serious doubts" about the settlement but concluded that her role was limited to determining whether it met basic standards of fairness and reasonableness, adding that the public—not the court—should ultimately judge whether the SEC held Musk appropriately accountable.
The settlement resolves the SEC's lawsuit alleging that Musk failed to timely disclose that he had acquired a 5% stake in Twitter in April 2022, allowing him to continue buying shares at lower prices and allegedly save about
$150 million. Six months later, Musk completed his
$44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which was later rebranded as X.
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