A US financial regulator has sued Elon Musk for allegedly failing to disclose his ownership of Twitter stock and acquiring shares at “artificially low prices”. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Musk in federal court in Washington DC, alleging securities violations. According to the suit, Musk did not disclose his 5% stake in the company in a timely manner, allowing him to underpay by at least $150m for shares.
Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44bn and later renamed it X. Before the purchase, he bought a 5% stake in the company, which typically requires public disclosure. The SEC alleges that Musk didn’t disclose his ownership until 11 days after the report was due. Musk’s lawyer says this is an “admission” by the SEC that they have no case.
The lawsuit comes amid a previously launched investigation into Musk’s purchase of Twitter in 2021 over alleged securities fraud and insider trading violations. The SEC accuses Musk of forging relationships with key figures, including Donald Trump, who has named Musk head of an advisory group to oversee government regulations.
In the complaint, the SEC claims that before Musk’s delayed disclosure, he spent more than $500m purchasing additional shares in Twitter at artificially low prices. When Musk eventually disclosed his ownership, he said he had acquired 9% of Twitter’s stock, but Twitter’s stock price increased by over 27% after this announcement.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/14/us-elon-musk-twitter-stock-purchase-lawsuit