Trump SEC lets Musk settle $150 million Twitter lawsuit for $1.5 million
Trump SEC lets Musk settle $150 million Twitter lawsuit for $1.5 million
特朗普政府时期的美国证交会允许马斯克以 150 万美元和解 1.5 亿美元的推特诉讼案
The Trump administration is letting Elon Musk pay a $1.5 million fine to settle a lawsuit that originally sought at least $150 million. If approved by a federal court, the proposed settlement submitted yesterday would require a trust in Musk’s name to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty to the government. 特朗普政府正在允许埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）支付 150 万美元的罚款，以和解一桩最初索赔金额至少为 1.5 亿美元的诉讼。如果获得联邦法院批准，昨天提交的和解协议将要求以马斯克名义设立的一个信托基金向政府支付 150 万美元的民事罚款。
The January 2025 lawsuit, filed in the last days of the Biden administration, relates to how Musk purchased a 9 percent stake in Twitter in 2022 and failed to disclose it within 10 days as required under US law. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that “Musk was able to continue purchasing shares at artificially low prices, allowing him to underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his beneficial ownership report was due.” 这起于 2025 年 1 月（拜登政府任期最后几天）提起的诉讼，涉及马斯克在 2022 年购买推特 9% 股份时，未按美国法律要求在 10 天内进行披露的行为。美国证券交易委员会（SEC）指控称：“马斯克得以继续以人为压低的价格购买股票，这使他在披露义务截止日期后购买的股票至少少支付了 1.5 亿美元。”
Twitter’s stock price soared after Musk belatedly disclosed his stake, and he bought the company outright later in 2022. The Biden SEC’s January 2025 lawsuit demanded that Musk “pay disgorgement of his unjust enrichment as a result of his violation,” plus interest and a separate civil penalty. But the SEC had investigated the late disclosure and related matters for nearly three years before filing the lawsuit, leaving no time to litigate the case before the Trump administration took over. 在马斯克迟迟披露其持股情况后，推特股价飙升，随后他在 2022 年晚些时候全资收购了该公司。拜登政府时期的 SEC 在 2025 年 1 月的诉讼中要求马斯克“退还因违规而获得的不当得利”，并支付利息及额外的民事罚款。然而，SEC 在提起诉讼前已对延迟披露及相关事宜调查了近三年，导致在特朗普政府接手前已没有时间完成诉讼程序。
Musk was accused of violating Section 13(d), which is enforced under a “strict liability” standard. That means it doesn’t matter whether a rule violation was intentional or inadvertent and may explain why the Trump SEC didn’t drop the case against Musk entirely. The Biden SEC filed the case in US District Court for the District of Columbia. Musk unsuccessfully tried to get it moved to a Texas court, and then lost an attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed. 马斯克被指控违反了第 13(d) 条款，该条款的执行标准是“严格责任”。这意味着无论违规行为是有意还是无意，都必须承担责任，这也解释了为什么特朗普政府时期的 SEC 没有完全撤销针对马斯克的诉讼。拜登政府时期的 SEC 在哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院提起了此案。马斯克曾试图将案件移交至得克萨斯州法院，但未获成功，随后他又试图驳回该诉讼，也以失败告终。
Musk lawyer touts deal with SEC
马斯克律师称赞与 SEC 达成的协议
The SEC’s original lawsuit was filed against Musk alone. But the Trump administration amended it this week to include the “Elon Musk Revocable Trust” as a defendant and imposed the settlement requirements on the trust instead of Musk. Under a proposed order filed by the SEC yesterday, the Elon Musk Revocable Trust would be “permanently restrained and enjoined from violating” Section 13(d), and the trust would be ordered to pay the fine to the SEC. The trust did not admit or deny the SEC’s allegations, court filings said. SEC 最初的诉讼仅针对马斯克个人。但特朗普政府本周修改了诉讼，将“埃隆·马斯克可撤销信托”（Elon Musk Revocable Trust）列为被告，并将和解要求施加于该信托而非马斯克本人。根据 SEC 昨天提交的拟议命令，该信托将被“永久限制和禁止违反”第 13(d) 条款，并被责令向 SEC 支付罚款。法庭文件显示，该信托既未承认也未否认 SEC 的指控。
Musk lawyer Alex Spiro “said in a written statement that regulators had only fined the trust while dismissing the claims against Musk personally,” according to The Wall Street Journal. “Mr. Musk has now been cleared of all issues related to the late filing of forms in the Twitter acquisition, as we said from the outset he would be,” Spiro said. “A trust vehicle has agreed to a small fine for being late on one filing.” 据《华尔街日报》报道，马斯克的律师亚历克斯·斯皮罗（Alex Spiro）在书面声明中表示：“监管机构仅对信托进行了罚款，同时驳回了针对马斯克个人的指控。”斯皮罗说：“正如我们从一开始所说的那样，马斯克先生现在已经清除了与推特收购案中表格延迟提交相关的所有问题。一个信托工具已同意为一次延迟提交支付少量罚款。”
Jury found Musk liable for false statements
陪审团裁定马斯克对虚假陈述负有责任
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan rejected Musk’s motion to dismiss the case in February 2026. “In his motion, Mr. Musk does not dispute that the Complaint adequately alleges that he disregarded the disclosure requirements of Section 13(d),” Sooknanan wrote. “Rather, he attacks the constitutionality of those requirements. He argues that Section 13(d) cannot be enforced against him because it burdens his constitutional rights under the First Amendment by forcing him to speak against his will; that Section 13(d) is unconstitutionally vague; that the SEC is selectively enforcing Section 13(d) against him; and that the SEC Commissioners are insulated by unconstitutional protections from removal. A straightforward application of the law reveals that none of these arguments warrant dismissal of this lawsuit.” 美国地区法官斯帕克尔·苏克纳南（Sparkle Sooknanan）于 2026 年 2 月驳回了马斯克驳回此案的动议。苏克纳南写道：“马斯克先生在动议中并未否认起诉书充分指控他无视第 13(d) 条款的披露要求。相反，他攻击了这些要求的合宪性。他辩称，第 13(d) 条款不能对他强制执行，因为它强迫他违背意愿发言，从而加重了他根据第一修正案享有的宪法权利；他认为第 13(d) 条款在宪法上是模糊的；SEC 对他进行了选择性执法；以及 SEC 委员受到违宪的免职保护。对法律的直接适用表明，这些论点均不足以驳回此诉讼。”
In a separate case related to Musk’s purchase of Twitter, a federal jury found that Musk is liable for making false statements about the number of bot and spam accounts on Twitter. Musk made the claims while trying to back out of his deal to buy the social network. The class action lawsuit alleged that Musk’s false statements caused them to sell at artificially low prices. “Damages have yet to be calculated but Francis Bottini, a lawyer for the shareholders, estimated they could total about $2.5 billion,” Reuters wrote after the March 20 verdict. 在另一起与马斯克收购推特相关的案件中，联邦陪审团裁定，马斯克因就推特上的机器人和垃圾邮件账户数量发表虚假陈述而负有责任。马斯克是在试图退出收购该社交网络的交易时发表上述言论的。集体诉讼指控称，马斯克的虚假陈述导致股东以人为压低的价格抛售股票。路透社在 3 月 20 日的裁决后写道：“损失金额尚未计算，但股东律师弗朗西斯·博蒂尼（Francis Bottini）估计总额可能约为 25 亿美元。”