Elon Musk has requested a judge in the United States to dismiss a case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against him on the grounds that the regulator unfairly targets him in a long-standing game of harassment.
The SEC brought its complaint in January, accusing the billionaire of missing the legal deadline in which investors are supposed to disclose when they exceed the threshold of owning over 5 percent of a company stock.
Regulators note that Musk ought to have reported his increasing share in Twitter as of 14 March 2022, but instead did so on 4 April. They argue the delay enabled him to continue to buy at artificially delated prices, and this cost other investors over 150 million dollars.
Musk then acquired Twitter in full in October 2022 at a price of 44 billion dollars and renamed it X.
Musk’s Response
In a 60-page filing submitted late Thursday, Musk’s attorneys dismissed the case as “a waste of this court’s time and taxpayer resources.”
“The SEC does not allege that Mr. Musk acted intentionally, deliberately, willfully, or even recklessly. The SEC does not allege that Mr. Musk caused any investor harm,” they wrote. “There is no intent. There is no harm.”
His legal team argued that the case concerns a single filing error that was corrected immediately and carries no evidence of ongoing violation. They also accused the SEC of pursuing penalties far out of proportion, noting the agency is seeking remedies “more than 1,500 times larger” than in similar cases.
Musk’s lawyers further requested that the case be transferred from Washington, D.C., where the SEC is headquartered, to Texas, where X Corp. is now based.
SEC Pushes Back
The SEC countered on Friday, urging US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan to find Musk liable without a trial. “This case involves a straightforward, strict liability violation of important public reporting requirements under the federal securities laws,” the agency said.
Regulators argued that Musk’s disclosure would have driven Twitter’s share price higher, and investors who sold before the April 2022 announcement missed out on significant gains. When Musk eventually disclosed his holding, more than 9% of the company, Twitter shares surged 27%.
Political Undertones
The case has also drawn attention for its timing. The SEC filed its lawsuit just days before Donald Trump was inaugurated as president in January 2025. Musk had been a key Trump ally during the 2024 election, donating hundreds of millions of dollars and advising on government restructuring efforts before the two men later fell out publicly.
The case apparently created tension within the SEC. According to Bloomberg, Republican commissioner Mark Uyeda (later acting chairman) requested the enforcement staff to verify that the case was not political in nature.
Long History of Clashes
This is not the first fight that Musk had with the securities regulator. In 2018, he was sued by the SEC for a tweet that he had raised the money needed to take Tesla private. The case ended with Musk and Tesla each paying a 20 million dollars fine and him stepping down as chairman in three years.
Now, his lawyers argue that the Twitter stake case is a continuation of a merciless campaign in which the agency has been scrutinizing him over the last seven years.
The SEC refused commenting on the recent filing.
