Elon Musk Seeks Dismissal of SEC Lawsuit Over Twitter Stake Disclosure

Elon Musk has asked a U.S. federal court to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit that accuses him of failing to disclose his large Twitter stake in 2022 on time. The SEC alleged that Musk crossed the mandatory 5% ownership threshold on March 24, 2022, but only revealed his position 11 days later, on April 4, by which time he had acquired a 9.2% holding in the social media company, now known as X.

According to regulators, Musk’s delay allowed him to continue buying shares secretly, giving him an unfair advantage and saving him over $500 million in purchase costs. The SEC is seeking civil penalties and the return of profits it claims were gained unlawfully.

Musk’s lawyers countered by saying the delay was inadvertent and quickly corrected. They noted that Musk had paused share purchases once the issue was identified and submitted the disclosure just one business day after his wealth manager consulted attorneys. The defense stressed that the SEC did not allege intentional wrongdoing and argued that the case is politically motivated, citing Musk’s frequent clashes with the agency and his role as an adviser in Donald Trump’s administration.

This case revives Musk’s long-running tensions with the SEC, dating back to 2018 when he was sued over a tweet claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private. That dispute ended in a settlement, though Musk has since criticized the agency repeatedly.

The outcome of this latest legal battle could have wider implications for disclosure rules and how they are enforced, especially against high-profile executives. For now, Musk’s lawyers are pressing the court to reject the case outright, portraying it as punitive rather than a genuine enforcement action.