A federal judge has denied Elon Musk‘s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over delays in reporting his Twitter share purchases.

The ruling marks the latest legal setback for the billionaire, who has long sparred with the regulatory agency.

US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington, DC, ruled Tuesday that none of Musk’s arguments were sufficient to end the case.

Musk had claimed the SEC was overreaching and targeting him for criticizing the agency, but the judge rejected those points.

The SEC filed the lawsuit in January 2025, alleging that Musk waited 11 days to disclose his initial 5% stake in Twitter in March and April 2022.

During that period, he purchased more than $500 million in shares at prices the SEC says were artificially low, CNA reported.

The agency is seeking $150 million in repayment for the alleged gains, plus an additional civil penalty.

Musk has described the delay as inadvertent. He also argued that the SEC’s pursuit was “selective enforcement” of federal securities laws and claimed the $150 million fine is excessive under the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment.

Musk pointed out that the SEC typically seeks only $100,000 in similar cases.

Judge Sooknanan cited congressional intent to protect investors from hidden stock purchases.

Elon Musk Must Face Lawsuit Over Delayed Share Filing

Shareholders reaching a 5% ownership stake must disclose their holdings within 10 calendar days, giving other investors the opportunity to act on the information.

“The court does not doubt that Mr. Musk would prefer to avoid having to disclose information that might raise stock prices while he makes a play for corporate control,” Sooknanan wrote. “But the balance Congress struck … does not violate the First Amendment.”

According to the NY Post, Musk has a long history with the SEC. In 2018, he was sued after tweeting that he might take Tesla private and had secured funding.

He settled that case by paying a $20 million civil fine, allowing Tesla lawyers to review some Twitter posts in advance, and giving up his chairman role.

The SEC case comes after Musk’s high-profile $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which he rebranded as X in October 2022.

Recently, Musk merged his AI company xAI, which includes X, with his space and satellite company SpaceX, creating a private enterprise valued at around $1.25 trillion.

According to Forbes, Musk’s personal fortune now stands at $851.6 billion, more than triple the $277.5 billion wealth of Google co-founder Larry Page.

Lawyers for Musk have not commented on the recent ruling, and the SEC declined to provide a statement.

Originally published on vcpost.com

In one of his first moves, Iger made Disney shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives available for sale on Apple ‘s iTunes platform, ushering in the unique idea of watching TV online. Three months later he bought Pixar from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. That $7.4 billion deal was an eye-popper, paving the way for blockbusters like Cars and Inside Out that reinvigorated Disney’s animated film business.

Those early moves hinted at key parts of Iger’s strategy: acquire marquee entertainment franchises and find new ways to exploit them. As he prepares to hand the reins next month to his successor, theme-parks chief Josh D’Amaro, Iger leaves a legacy that includes snapping up the biggest brand names in Hollywood via more than $100 billion in mergers and acquisitions, expanding in China and building a streaming business that delivered $24.6 billion in revenue from people watching movies and TV shows online last year.

“That’s one huge insight of his,” said David Collis, an executive education fellow at Harvard Business School who has written about Iger. “If you own these incredible entertainment franchises, any device only increases demand for your content.”

More deals followed Pixar, including Marvel Entertainment and its stable of superheroes, Star Wars-parent Lucasfilm and the $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, which brought in franchises like The Simpsons and Avatar.

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“The deal we did for Fox, in many ways, was ahead of its time,” Iger said this week on an earnings call when asked about Netflix’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.
Those acquired characters and stories found their way into Disney’s theme parks. In 2013, when the company first began exploring a Star Wars land for the parks, Iger told his designers, “Be the most ambitious that you have ever been,” Bob Weis, the longtime head of Disney’s parks design business, recalled in his 2024 autobiography.Iger was also keen on international expansion, green-lighting the $5.4 billion Shanghai Disneyland. Before its 2016 opening, Iger flew to China on a nearly monthly basis to monitor its progress, according to Weis.

The same year the Fox acquisition closed, Iger launched Disney+, the company’s flagship streaming service, the company’s response to the growing dominance of Netflix in online viewing. Providing a new outlet for programming that ran on networks like the Disney Channel was a threat to the company’s lucrative cable-TV business, but in the end, Iger relented.

Disney+ was a hit from the start. Ten million customers signed up the first day, driven by programming such as the Star Wars-spinoff The Mandalorian. The company reported 132 million Disney+ subscribers at the end of its latest fiscal year.

TV Star
Iger has spent his whole career in the TV business, rising up the ranks at ABC and performing every task, from getting a bottle of Listerine for Frank Sinatra before a TV special to scheduling the 1988 Winter Olympics. He was considered a likely CEO of broadcaster Capital Cities/ABC until that company was acquired by Disney in 1996 and he had to start clawing his way up the corporate ladder again.

When a shareholder revolt finally prompted the retirement of Disney CEO Michael Eisner in 2005, Iger got his shot.

More than 20 years later, the worst grade on Iger’s corporate report card likely comes in succession planning. Multiple extensions of his contract over the years led senior Disney executives to exit. When he finally stepped down for the first time in 2020, his handpicked successor Bob Chapek proved to be disappointment.

As Iger prepares to pass the baton to D’Amaro on March 18, he leaves plenty of work still to be done. On the recent earnings call, Iger said he hoped his replacement would carry on with his focus on reinvention.

That’s the value of the Dow industrials divided by the gold price. The lower the ratio, the pricier the metal looks compared to blue-chip stocks—and it is now below a long-term average of 13.8 times.

In the latest edition of my Markets A.M. newsletter, I look at gold valuations, and why we’re unlikely to see a repeat of the metal’s stunning outperformance in the ’70s. You can sign up for the newsletter here, or read the full article below: