McDonald’s is quietly ditching a popular in-store feature nationwide The SEC had argued that Musk should pay a civil fine and repay the $150 million he allegedly saved at the expense of unsuspecting investors. Musk called the delay inadvertent, and accused the SEC of violating his free speech rights by targeting him. He completed the $44 billion Twitter purchase in October 2022. Musk’s civil penalty is the largest in SEC history for the type of violation he was accused of, a person familiar with the settlement said. The SEC had argued that Musk should pay a civil fine and repay the $150 million he allegedly saved at the expense of unsuspecting investors. He completed the $44 billion Twitter purchase in 2022. AFP via Getty Images The SEC’s effort to recoup the $150 million may have been tough to prove in court, people familiar with the settlement said. Musk has had a fraught relationship with the SEC, starting in September 2018 when the regulator charged him with securities fraud for saying on Twitter he had “secured” funding to potentially take his electric car company Tesla private. He settled that case by paying a $20 million civil fine, letting Tesla lawyers review some Twitter posts in advance, and giving up his role as Tesla’s chairman. Monday’s settlement came three months after US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan rejected Musk’s bid to dismiss the case. Both sides disclosed on March 17 they were in talks to settle. The SEC sued Musk six days before former President Joe Biden left the White House and was replaced by Donald Trump. Current SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has been refocusing the regulator’s enforcement priorities. Filed under