After getting a settlement truce from the SEC, Elon Musk has been filing petitions to the Supreme Court, in a bid to get out of paying the massive fine, among other requirements for the case to be dropped. However, another petition surfaced from Musk and his camp, and this seeks to help them get out of paying the fine, with his 'free speech' also 'suppressed' by the settlement.
This centers on the still controversial 2018 tweet, the Tesla Private "Funding Secured" tweet which has haunted Musk for many years now.
Elon Musk Petitions SEC Settlement to SC Again
A new petition from one of the top billionaires of our time, Elon Musk, has now been filed to the US Supreme Court, and he asks for the SC to hear the case and eventually grant him his freedom back. One of the main focuses of Musk's petition is to give him back his "rights" to create posts over at X (formerly Twitter), one that does not require Tesla pre-screening it.
The latest claim by Musk says that the SEC settlement has forced him to "waive his First Amendment rights to speak on matters ranging far beyond the charged violations."
It is known that Musk took the deal with the SEC earlier this year amidst the hearing of the case, but now, claims that he was coerced into the deal.
Will Musk Get out of the SEC Settlement?
The court order from earlier this year centers on the requirements for Musk to follow, with the SEC settlement focusing on various key points that essentially gave Musk a pass. However, he and Tesla were made to pay $20 million each for their actions, and this also required Musk to step down from his board chairman responsibility at the EV company.
More importantly, Musk's X posts about Tesla will require pre-screening to avoid the same incident again.
Elon Musk: Funding Secured Fiasco
Early January 2023, Tesla shareholders pushed for the case of the 2018 tweet to pursue Elon Musk again after almost five years, and here, they want the tech CEO to face the consequences of his actions. The initial projections claim that should the trial have continued, Musk would have lost billions of his money to pay for the damages against the shareholders of the company.
After the different proceedings and the billionaire's testimony made as he was called in to explain his actions, there were significant decisions made against the CEO of Tesla. This includes the pre-screening of the tweets that he posts online, and it will be subject to review before he is allowed to take this to the public via his massive X account, essentially losing several aspects of his freedom.
However, he did not sit idly to get pre-screened for his tweets, but also, looking to get out of the settlement that will cost him $20 million personally, and another $20 million for Tesla. This is now Musk's second petition to the US Supreme Court in a bid to overturn this SEC decision for a settlement, and while these consequences are less than what is expected, the tech CEO still questions it now.
