The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk’s appeal regarding a securities fraud settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The court upheld the 2018 SEC settlement following Musk’s social media statement about Tesla, involving a $20 million fine, according to a report from Reuters.
The settlement stemmed from Musk’s claim of having “funding secured” to privatize Tesla, which the SEC deemed false, leading to accusations of defrauding investors.
Musk’s appeal argued against the SEC’s prior restraint on his speech, citing First Amendment constraints, but the court upheld the lower court’s decision.
Despite Musk’s attempt to challenge the pre-approval mandate for his social media posts, the court ruled against him, emphasizing his initial agreement to allow screening.
Also Read: Tesla To Spend $10B In Training And Inference AI In 2024, Says Billionaire Elon Musk
This decision marks a setback for Musk’s efforts to overturn the restrictions imposed by the SEC, maintaining the terms of the 2018 settlement.
The conflict between the two parties dates back to when Musk tweeted he had secured funding to take Tesla private at a price of $420.
As per Musk's settlement with the SEC, he and Tesla each paid $20 million in fines and agreed to allow a Tesla lawyer to approve some of his posts on Twitter.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Musk in October 2023, seeking his testimony regarding his Twitter stock purchases and the subsequent rebranding of the platform to X.
The Biden administration also recommended that the Supreme Court not entertain Musk's appeal which was filed in in December 2023 after a lower court upheld his consent decree with the SEC.
Tesla stock gained over 17% in the past 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF VCR and T-Rex 2x Long Tesla Daily Target ETF TSLT.
TSLA Price Action: TSLA shares are trading higher by 15.52% at $193.99 at publication Monday.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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