A judge approved a $1.5 million fine imposed on Elon Musk that will settle a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission despite having “significant concerns” about it.

U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan signaled her court would accept the settlement, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing her court opinion.

Sooknanan’s approval resolves a lawsuit filed by the SEC against Musk in early 2025 over how the billionaire handled his acquisition of Twitter. The lawsuit, which was filed just days before Donald Trump took office, revolved around Musk’s failure to timely disclose to public investors his growing stake in the company in 2022.

Musk’s failure to initially disclose his involvement “ultimately saved him a whopping $150 million,” the SEC argued.

In May, Musk reached a settlement with the SEC that stipulated that a trust in Musk’s name would be responsible for paying a $1.5 million fine without admitting wrongdoing.

Sooknanan previously questioned whether Musk was receiving “special treatment” from the Trump administration. Musk helped fund Trump’s campaign during the 2024 presidential race.

In his opinion, Sooknanan noted that his court was “limited to evaluating whether the proposed consent judgment meets minimum standards of fairness and reasonableness” or whether it “makes[s] “a mockery of the judiciary.”

“Although the Court has important doubts about the agreement reached in this case, it cannot say that
the agreement meets that high threshold,” Sooknanan wrote.