Elon Musk and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are no longer pursuing a quick settlement and instead appear headed for a courtroom fight over Musk’s 2022 takeover of Twitter, according to Bloomberg.
In a status update filed Wednesday, both sides said they had explored possible resolutions but ultimately agreed the case isn’t suited for mediation. “The parties do not believe that this case would benefit…from…ADR,” the filing states, signaling a shift toward full litigation.
At the center of the case is the SEC’s claim that Musk failed to promptly disclose he had accumulated more than a 5% stake in Twitter—an omission the agency says allowed him to buy shares at lower prices, costing investors more than $150 million. Musk has pushed back, calling the lawsuit “a waste of this court’s time,” but a judge has already rejected both his dismissal bid and the SEC’s attempt to win the case outright.
Bloomberg writes that the next phase will involve discovery, where Musk’s team says it needs up to a year to review what it described as a “voluminous investigative file” built over nearly three years, including testimony from dozens of witnesses.
The case unfolds alongside other legal setbacks tied to the deal. A jury recently found Musk misled investors during the acquisition saga, and a separate federal judge allowed a class-action suit over alleged stock manipulation to move forward.
Musk’s clashes with regulators and investors stretch back years, most notably to his 2018 “funding secured” tweets about taking Tesla, Inc. private. That episode led to an SEC enforcement action, a $20 million fine, and an agreement requiring oversight of some of his public statements—terms Musk has repeatedly criticized and tried to challenge in court.
He has also faced a steady stream of shareholder lawsuits tied to his companies, including disputes over compensation, market-moving statements on social media, and acquisitions. While Musk has successfully defended some cases, others have resulted in settlements or ongoing litigation, reinforcing scrutiny around his communications and business practices.
More broadly, the combination of high-profile deals, unconventional public remarks, and aggressive legal strategy has kept Musk frequently entangled in court battles over the past decade, making regulatory and investor lawsuits a recurring feature of his leadership across multiple companies.