Elon Musk has revealed that he received a “settlement demand” from the Gary Gensler-run SEC in connection with his Twitter takeover — the latest in a long-running public feud between the billionaire Tesla boss and the agency.
Musk posted a letter from his lawyer, Alex Spiro, to Gensler on Thursday stating that the billionaire had been told to “agree within 48 hours to either accept a monetary payment or face charges on numerous counts.”
“Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?” Musk wrote in an X post that contained a copy of the letter.
In the letter, Spiro said the demand was related to “certain purchases, sales and disclosures of Twitter shares” and was the latest sign of what he called “more than six years of harassment of Mr. Musk by the Commission.” Spiro also disclosed that the SEC has “reopened” a probe into Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink.
The SEC sent Musk a settlement offer on Tuesday, but extended the deadline until this coming Monday after it received a request for more time, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
If the two sides aren’t able to reach an agreement, the agency could issue a “Wells notice” ahead of potential enforcement action, CNBC reported, citing a source familiar with the situation.
Spiro suggested that the SEC’s latest actions against Musk may have been politically motivated. The lawyer also said he had refused a demand to give testimony about the situation.
“We demand to know who directed these actions — whether it was you or the White House,” Spiro wrote to Gensler.
In a separate post, Musk shared an AI-generated photo depicting Gensler as a snail-like creature wearing a suit.
“Asked @Grok to draw a picture of @GaryGensler. Very flattering, I think!” Musk wrote.
Musk also targeted the SEC in another post, writing that it was “just another weaponized institution doing political dirty work.”
“It is the policy of the SEC to conduct investigations on a confidential basis to preserve the integrity of its investigative process,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement. “The SEC therefore does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
The SEC has been investigating Musk over his actions in 2022 during his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which he has since renamed X.
Musk revealed in April 2022 that he had purchased a 9% stake in Twitter.
The move drew scrutiny from the SEC, which questioned why he hadn’t disclosed the stock buy within 10 days of crossing a 5% ownership threshold as required by law.
The SEC also cracked down on Musk in 2018 over the infamous episode in which he claimed to have “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share.
The deal never materialized.
Musk eventually agreed to a settlement that required him and Tesla to each pay $20 million fines and for him to step down as chairman of the firm.
The billionaire also entered a consent decree in which his tweets and other public communications had to be pre-approved by company attorneys.
After years of clashing with federal regulators under the Biden administration, Musk emerged as a major donor adviser to President-elect Donald Trump during the 2024 election cycle.
Trump has tapped Musk and fellow ally Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, which is tasked with slashing the federal budget and unnecessary regulations.
Investors have taken Musk’s close ties to Trump as a bullish sign for his various businesses. Musk’s personal net worth has swelled above $400 billion — the highest figure on record.
Gensler — who has regularly clashed with the tech industry over his harsh crackdown on cryptocurrencies — said he would resign as SEC chair following Trump’s election win.
Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a staunch ally of the crypto sector, to replace Gensler.
With Post wires
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