Musk requests the SEC to drop the lawsuit as the Twitter stock case continues to escalate.

Musk was sued by the U.S. SEC for the delayed reporting of his Twitter (X) holdings in 2022. He is now seeking to dismiss the case, emphasizing that it is "meaningless," while the SEC countered that it is "clearly illegal."

Latency in reporting Twitter holdings, accused by the SEC of low-priced acquisition

According to reports, under U.S. regulations, if an investor holds more than 5% of a company's shares, they must report to the SEC within 10 days.

In April 2022, Musk delayed declaring his shareholding ratio for 21 days, which caused Twitter's stock price to rise by 27%. This allowed him to continue buying at a lower price, reportedly saving about $150 million in acquisition costs. In this regard, the SEC accused him of unfairly accumulating shares at a low price during these 21 days.

The conflict between the SEC and Musk continues unabated.

The SEC subsequently launched an investigation, but the process was fraught with difficulties. In September 2022, SEC lawyers went to Los Angeles to prepare for questioning, but Musk unexpectedly changed his plans to attend a SpaceX rocket launch, and was only willing to reimburse the SEC lawyers a few thousand dollars for travel expenses, which made the SEC quite unhappy.

Elon Musk's legal team retaliated by stating that the SEC has been "looking for trouble," and emphasized that such accusations generally only result in a nominal fine at most.

The SEC attempted to reach a settlement with Musk in December 2024 by offering to pay a fine to close the case. Musk not only refused but even publicly disclosed the lawyer's letter on Twitter (X) to counter the SEC, accusing the SEC of only giving him 48 hours to decide whether to settle, showing no sincerity, and completely breaking down the settlement.

There is a disagreement within the SEC regarding whether to prosecute.

As the time approaches January 2025, just before the Republican Party, led by Trump, officially takes over the SEC, five SEC commissioners vote in a closed-door meeting on whether to prosecute Musk:

4 people voted in favor: three Democratic committee members and Republican member Hester Peirce.

1 Opposed by: Former SEC Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda

There are reports indicating that Uyeda and Peirce actually have opinions about the SEC. However, in the end, Peirce still cast a yes vote along with three Democratic committee members.

Uyeda not only cast a dissenting vote but also requested SEC enforcement personnel responsible for investigating the Musk case to sign a guarantee stating "there is no political motivation in this case" before the vote. However, this was internally rejected, as it is not part of the SEC's normal procedures, indicating that Uyeda harbors significant doubts about the political neutrality of the case.

(SEC internal strife exposed? Mark Uyeda opposed the prosecution of Musk's Twitter case, Trump investigates the law enforcement controversies during Biden's term )

Or due to changes in the relationship with Trump, the lawsuit has entered a heated stage.

Perhaps influenced by the changing relationship between Musk and Trump, this lawsuit has entered a heated stage. In the latest statement from Musk's legal team on September 2, it emphasized that the SEC has not accused Musk of acting with malice, intentionally, or recklessly, nor has it caused any substantial harm to investors. Therefore, the entire lawsuit is essentially a waste of the court's time and taxpayers' money.

The team further requested to transfer the case from Washington D.C. to Texas for trial, citing that Twitter (X) has its headquarters located there.

In response, the SEC immediately retaliated, emphasizing that this is completely "undisputed" and that Musk is guilty of latency. This falls under the disclosure obligations of federal securities law, which is a responsibility that must be enforced, and there is no need to further discuss his intentions. The SEC also insisted that the case should continue to be heard in Washington, criticizing Musk for merely finding excuses to delay the litigation progress.

(Will the tech giants' involvement in politics lead to their own destruction of the Great Wall? Is the business empire of Musk collapsing after the fallout with Trump? )

This article discusses Musk's request for the SEC to dismiss the lawsuit, as the Twitter stockholding case heats up again. It first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.