A U.S. federal judge has rejected the SEC's request for sanctions against Elon Musk for his absence from a court-ordered testimony related to his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled that Musk needed no sanctions for his Oct. 3 testimony and reimbursed the SEC for $2,923 in travel expenses. The SEC argued that Musk violated the May 31 order and sought stronger deterrence, but Corley dismissed the question as moot.
Musk blamed his Sept. 10 absence on overseeing SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission.
The SEC's investigation seeks to determine whether Musk may have violated securities laws by delaying disclosure that he bought Twitter shares in 2022. Critics have argued that the delay allowed Musk to buy shares in the company at a low price before disclosing his 9.2% stake.
Musk has previously admitted to misunderstanding SEC rules. Previously, it had reached a settlement with the SEC over Tesla-related tweets in 2018. The case is still being heard in the Northern District Court of California. (Bitcoin.com)