A judge has approved a $1.5 million fine levied against Elon Musk to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit despite “substantial concerns.”
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said his court would accept the settlement, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing his court opinion.
Sooknanan’s approval resolves a lawsuit filed by the SEC against Musk in early 2025 over how the billionaire handled his Twitter acquisition. The lawsuit, filed just days before Donald Trump took office, centered on Musk’s failure to disclose to public investors an increase in his stake in the company in a timely manner in 2022.
The SEC claimed that Musk “ultimately saved a whopping $150 million” by not initially disclosing his stake.
Last May, Musk reached a settlement with the SEC in which a trust in Musk’s name would admit to no wrongdoing and would be responsible for paying a $1.5 million fine.
Sooknanan previously questioned whether Musk was receiving ‘special treatment’ from the Trump administration. Musk helped finance Trump’s campaign during the 2024 presidential election.
In her opinion, Sooknanan noted that her court was limited to assessing “whether the proposed consent decree meets minimum standards of fairness and reasonableness” or “whether it is a mockery of judicial power.”
“The court has significant doubts about the settlement in this case, but it cannot be said that it does.
The agreement meets a high bar,” Sooknanan wrote.
