Attorneys for the US Securities and Exchange Commission and 
Elon Musk appeared before US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington on Wednesday to argue for a $1.5m settlement resolving the regulator's lawsuit over the billionaire's 2022 Twitter purchase. The case accused Musk of waiting too long in April 2022 to disclose he had amassed a 5% stake in Twitter, saving roughly $150m as a result, Channel News Asia reported via Reuters. Sooknanan had said last week she would weigh several factors before approving the settlement, including fairness to both sides and consistency with the public interest, and ordered both sides to be prepared to propose a briefing timeline.
The agreement does not require Musk to admit wrongdoing or give up money he allegedly saved by the delayed disclosure, and Channel News Asia reported the penalty was a fraction of what the SEC had originally sought — though still the largest in agency history for the type of violation he was accused of. Musk, the world's richest person, bought Twitter for $44bn later in 2022.
The hearing surfaces during a broader pull-back in SEC enforcement under chair Paul Atkins, who has refocused the regulator's priorities under the 
Donald Trump administration. Former SEC enforcement chief Margaret Ryan, who left abruptly in March after six months on the job, had clashed with agency leaders over the direction of its enforcement program, Reuters reported.
Musk, a former adviser to the president, has said the lawsuit was politically motivated and the disclosure delay was inadvertent. A timeline for filing supporting briefs is expected to follow Wednesday's appearance.
Figures referenced: Elon Musk, Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
