Judge approves SEC settlement with Musk despite ‘significant misgivings’

A federal judge approved the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) $1.5 million settlement with Elon Musk on Wednesday, saying the agreement did not meet the “high threshold” for the court to strike it down despite “significant misgivings.”

The final approval of the settlement, which the SEC first announced in May, resolves a yearslong dispute with the tech mogul.

After a nearly three-year probe, the agency sued Musk in January 2025 for failing to disclose when his stake in Twitter, now known as X, surpassed 5 percent as he bought up stock in the company in early 2022.

“Whether the Executive Branch (through the SEC) has done enough to hold Mr. Musk to account for his alleged violation is, like many other issues, for our citizenry to decide at the ballot box,” U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said in Wednesday’s order.

Musk began buying stock in Twitter in early 2022 but did not disclose his........

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