ListNook

rascallyrascal1511 May 4, 2026 +6103

Another source says, "The SEC claimed Musk saved over $150 million by breaking the disclosure rules, now it’s settling for $1.5 million." So he came out ahead by $148.5 million. I don't see any reason why he would not violate SEC rules again.

6103

TheLeapIsALie May 4, 2026 +2441

Amazing what happens when you buy yourself a whole branch of government.

2441

annaleigh13 May 4, 2026 +888

This isn’t a regime specific issue. The SEC for YEARS have levied “cost of doing business” fines for major corporations. At this point I’m pretty sure most major companies do what they want and factor a 10% cut for the SEC

888

praguepride May 4, 2026 +300

if the fine is less than the crime then it isnt a crime, its taxable income

300

fuqyu May 5, 2026 +79

I would LOVE to get taxed at that rate

79

hovdeisfunny May 5, 2026 +30

Yeah, 1% would be fantastic

30

NovusNiveus May 5, 2026 +12

I see what you're saying, but as an enjoyer of robust public services, I would not love that.

12

TheCommodore44 May 5, 2026 +30

Are these robust public services in the room with us now?

30

NovusNiveus May 5, 2026 +20

Now you mention it, no. That's the problem.

20

yammys May 5, 2026 +6

Don't worry, Elon solved all the fraud waste and abuse in the government. We should see those robust public services any day now along with a check from DOGE

6

Salt-Operation May 5, 2026 +3

What “robust” public services? Interstate road maintenance is at an all time low. Federal judges are in the pockets of politicians and billionaires. Social Security hasn’t been keeping up with inflation. Our tax dollars are funding vanity wars and hideous ballrooms. They’re lining the pockets of admitted criminals.

3

Numerous_Photograph9 May 5, 2026 +6

If the punishment for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.

6

bushido216 May 4, 2026 +205

He paid a 1% dividend on his windfall. It really is us vs them.

205

st-shenanigans May 4, 2026 +23

https://youtu.be/VLbWnJGlyMU?si=RT9UvqphutyqUEtr *cough*

23

IMOBY_Edmonton May 4, 2026 +48

Companies do this in general. I worked for a retailer that used the fire escapes to store overstock during the Christmas season. They were fined each time they got caught, but that was cheaper than leasing more storage space.

48

ETxsubboy May 5, 2026 +43

Walmart made employees clock out for breaks in the late 90s to early 2000's. Wage theft. Class action lawsuit got settled so I could get a check for the hundreds of hours of pay stole from me and every other employee - for less than $20. Folks don't really get it. Corporations as a concept were literally created around one principle: the ends justify the means in the attainment of wealth.

43

socialistForDE May 5, 2026 +6

And now you might see the appeal of abolishing all private companies

6

allanon1105 May 4, 2026 +28

SEC needs reform to have real teeth against these corporations

28

BeneCow May 5, 2026 +19

Because decades ago smart people realised getting the SEC toothless would make them money. Dumb people took that playbook and applied it to everything and we end up here.

19

Emperor_Zar May 5, 2026 +12

I mean. That’s the land of the free, right? Free to do as you please as long as you can pay for it. Until fines bankrupt companies and individuals, they are nothing but operating expenses. If corporations are people, where’s the corporate death penalty?

12

rascallyrascal1511 May 5, 2026 +4

Same for big banks and the CFPB.

4

Stray_Neutrino May 4, 2026 +3

The "You Ain't See Nuttin'" fee.

3

FlyingStealthPotato May 5, 2026 +11

Nobody wants to hear about gamestop, but it’s rules for thee and not for me. I was there pre market in 2021. 5 shares in hand, limit sell orders at $500 (my whole cost basis), $5000, $10000, $50000, and $200000 (what I had left to pay on my house). It was moving up a dollar per second and accelerating. Then they shut off JUST the buy button and the price tanked by 95%. Only time in history this has happened. They shut off buying only. There was one congressional hearing and then no consequences for completely and absolutely f****** the “free” market and f****** thousands or millions of individuals out of life changing money. Say what you will about the absurdity of what happened with gamestop, but mathematically it was a sure thing and should have gone into the thousands at least until there were fewer debted shares than existed at the time.

11

EnigmaSpore May 5, 2026 +10

the corporations became “citizens” and also captured the govt. Late stage capitalism at its finest

10

LinkedInParkPremium May 4, 2026 +170

You cannot make this shit up. Apparently he made a great decision.

170

Parahelix May 5, 2026 +35

I think it's more that Americans just made an extremely poor decision.

35

[deleted] May 5, 2026 +15

[deleted]

15

Soft_Walrus_3605 May 5, 2026 +2

A certain segment of the population cheers people on when they cheat the government and think it makes them "smarter".

2

PhazePyre May 4, 2026 +65

I feel like laws should require it be equal to the amount + 25% or some shit. They should never come out ahead. It just rewards shitty behaviour. Like would we fine a bank robber $1K and let them walk with whatever they stole? No? This shit should be crimes, not just inappropriate behaviour/conduct.

65

Biggie39 May 4, 2026 +26

I’m honestly surprised money is going from Musk to the government… I assumed we were gonna end up paying him for some reason.

26

nathanzoet91 May 4, 2026 +11

It'll just go to trump, so we won't benefit from even the chump change

11

Particular-County277 May 4, 2026 +36

Yip. Just the price of doing business

36

BusterStarfish May 4, 2026 +10

The fine should always start at whatever amount has been stolen and go up from there. Either way, there is no crime a billionaire can’t get away with.

10

AusToddles May 4, 2026 +16

When the fine is a fraction of the profit, then its just written off as the cost of doing business

16

RedBeans-n-Ricely May 4, 2026 +7

This just goes to show that if you have enough money, laws don’t apply.

7

TorrenceMightingale May 4, 2026 +3

“Bu but the inefficiency!”

3

Tyrilean May 4, 2026 +2

The government is cool with rich people crimes so long as they get their cut.

2

OkCat5 May 4, 2026 +4

And Martha Stewart went to jail. Fair. /s

4

Yvaelle May 4, 2026 +5

Hey Gemini, what's the fastest way I can violate SEC rules to make $148.5M?

5

Yadahoom May 4, 2026 +6

He could have paid 50 billion dollars and still had like 800 billion dollars left. Imagine any of us just having one million dollars

6

qosthanatos May 4, 2026 +5

So 0.00019% of his net worth. Thats the equivalent of a millionaire being fined $190, instead of having to pay $19,000. What a joke.

5

ImaginationToForm2 May 4, 2026 +3

Fines are cheaper than the crime.

3

GregEgg4President May 5, 2026 +3

He paid a 1% fee to be allowed to break the law.

3

Numerous_Photograph9 May 5, 2026 +3

Unfortunately, this isn't really uncommon with the SEC, although this is also an extreme of one of their settlements. It's pretty common for them to investigate and levy fines of hudreds of millions, then settle for half or maybe tens of those millions. The government gets the money, the company doesn't have to admit fault or isn't sanctioned in any way, and the victims end up with nothing unless they sue individually, which ends up being costly.

3

texinxin May 4, 2026 +2

I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t do it ever again. This is an awesome case study in how to defraud the public by bribing the government with a minor fee.

2

Scarlet_Bard May 5, 2026 +2

This is what it always looks like when rich people and corporations “lose” in court. Steal a 100 million dollars, pay a 1 million dollar fine, keep the money, rinse, repeat.

2

Beneficial-Age-4059 May 5, 2026 +1

Seems pretty profitable.

1

ygduf May 5, 2026 +1

Laws you only pay a fine to break are only laws for poor people.

1

cavscout8 May 5, 2026 +1

Just the price of doing business. Ridiculous.

1

Sedert1882 May 4, 2026 +572

$1.5m fine? What a sick joke.

572

ENaC2 May 4, 2026 +155

That is literal pocket change for somebody with such grotesque wealth.

155

uncleawesome May 5, 2026 +77

It's not even pocket change. That is something he saw on the sidewalk and didn't bother to bend over and pick up.

77

hovdeisfunny May 5, 2026 +43

Musk is currently worth around $800B $1.5M is 0.0001875% of his wealth US household median income is about $84K 0.0001875% of that is $0.1575, or about 16¢

43

CaptainMonkeyJack May 5, 2026 +45

Did you just compare wealth to income? The [median net worth in 2022](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/table/#series:Net_Worth;demographic:all;population:all;units:median) was \~$192K. So it's \~36c. Why do an apple to orange comparison... when apple to apple makes the same point?

45

Head May 5, 2026 +2

Mmmm apples.

2

enters_and_leaves May 6, 2026 +2

Mmmmnaghrhaff, head.

2

belbivfreeordie May 5, 2026 +5

I have to know what he has paid his lawyers for handling this matter.

5

Useful_Respect3339 May 5, 2026 +4

Musk defecated through a sunroof.

4

mapppa May 5, 2026 +4

Why can you settle cases with a government agency like the SEC in the first place? That doesn't make sense unless you want to invite corrupt... oh, I get it now...

4

HeinzeC1 May 5, 2026 +2

$1.5m investment\*

2

HobbesNJ May 4, 2026 +910

Nothing but corruption these days.

910

Harbor733 May 4, 2026 +139

I really think history books will refer to this as “The Age of Corruption”. It is so blatant, so common, and so normalized.

139

Giuseppe_exitplan May 5, 2026 +17

when would that era begin? what year?

17

Raesong May 5, 2026 +21

I'd probably start around 2000-2001, and call the whole thing "The End of Pax Americana".

21

Wolfram_And_Hart May 5, 2026 +9

2010 when citizens united won

9

DisillusionedPatriot May 5, 2026 +7

I'd say 1995, when the WTO officially started. That's when this leg of the shift began, which was triggered by the greedgasm known as reaganomics, which was triggered by Nixon leaving the gold standard at the recommendation of players still on the board today. So, 1971, maybe?

7

Raesong May 5, 2026 +3

Maybe, but this does highlight an issue with dividing history into discrete chunks.

3

Giuseppe_exitplan May 5, 2026 +5

Yeah. Its hard to make something black and white when theres so many colours.

5

AdonisK May 4, 2026 +53

To be fair, this sort of BS has been happening for a while now in the U.S., it’s just more blatant now.

53

rascallyrascal1511 May 5, 2026 +12

How much of this do you think goes back to Musk and DOGE making cuts to the SEC, CFPB, EPA, and other agencies last year?

12

HobbesNJ May 5, 2026 +14

A lot. Trump put the billionaire fox in charge of the hen house. They hamstrung the departments that got in the way of the wealthy doing whatever they want.

14

Fallouttgrrl May 4, 2026 +383

Hard to be a government agency needing to regulate Musk when he can just have Big Balls installed as your boss, I guess

383

Bealzebubbles May 4, 2026 +30

We all know that 19 year olds with no real-world experience make the best decisions.

30

epidemicsaints May 5, 2026 +8

He has real world experience being a cyber criminal.

8

fossilnews May 4, 2026 +196

He already has a prior settlement for fraud. This settlement is beyond corrupt.

196

Lost_Drunken_Sailor May 5, 2026 +13

So much corruption and it’s not even hidden anymore. There’s nothing anyone can do about it so they happily do it in front of everyone now. A big F U to society.

13

fossilnews May 5, 2026 +6

Making $150M and being fined $1.5M. He really learned his lesson.

6

ph33randloathing May 4, 2026 +49

F*** me, has it only been four years?

49

ButtonholePhotophile May 5, 2026 +2

Hope long have we been married that once every four years send like a lot?

2

FrancoManiac May 4, 2026 +41

It could be $1.5 *billion* and it wouldn't hardly impact him. What a f****** joke.

41

srone May 4, 2026 +110

To put that into perspective, if you were worth $100,000, you would have been fined... $0.18... Yes, 18 cents.

110

VoDoka May 5, 2026 +6

Bro made that money back by the time his accountant finished typing in the transaction to the SEC.

6

Novel-Lifeguard6491 May 4, 2026 +26

The settlement is $1.5 million, paid by a trust, with no admission of wrongdoing and no requirement to return any of the money he allegedly saved. His lawyer called it vindication. That's one way to describe it.

26

metarugia May 4, 2026 +26

If I’m ever caught doing something illegal, I’ll be expecting the same “deal”. 1% of the fine. Speeding ticket, taxes, etc.

26

rascallyrascal1511 May 4, 2026 +3

For real!

3

Brilliant-Emu859 May 5, 2026 +60

How the f*** are Americans not rioting in the streets right now. That’s a disgrace. Your whole system is collapsing into a farce

60

Mephiz May 5, 2026 +20

Imagine if you were living in a police state where your healthcare is tied to your job. You have no labor rights and missing any time at all means not only do you lose your job, you lose your family’s healthcare. So people only protest in the safest possible manner and are polite as hell. Don’t want to get on the wrong side of Officer Porcine Wonder and the goon squad and miss a day of work. Then of course you have the idiotic “constitutional carry” nitwits who claim open carrying their guns at protests is their right and that their right trumps your right to not be worried about psychos with guns… Anyways we have fucked around, created a hellscape, and are currently finding out.

20

JennyWearsBlueJeans May 5, 2026 +24

Everyone above the age of 35 has kids and doesn’t want to end up in jail and leave their children parentless, and everyone below the age of 35 is too addicted to their phone to give a shit. I’m kidding, but also I’m not

24

AwesomePossum_1 May 5, 2026 +3

This is a lawsuit about the rights of other Twitter shareholders. Why would regular people be protesting in support of former Twitter billionaire owners?

3

No-Banana-3055 May 4, 2026 +57

This is just a "wise" investment paying off. Nothing to see here folks. Just another day in corporate America.

57

LotsofSports May 5, 2026 +15

Throw his ass in jail.

15

008Zulu May 5, 2026 +2

Can't, he's too rich.

2

Pourkinator May 5, 2026 +7

What’s sad is locking up all the ultra rich (who have all committed some kind of financial or worse crime) would solve a lot of the worlds problems.

7

not_your_google May 4, 2026 +31

grift, grift, grift......... what else is new?

31

Pale-Inspector-8094 May 4, 2026 +9

A little investment in Trump can have great returns.

9

boothash May 5, 2026 +7

Pretty weird how SEC basically just lets anyone do anything against the law, just as long as they get their cut of the action.

7

DamienZombie10 May 5, 2026 +2

it’s more like they pick and choose what to go after. some stuff gets hit hard, other things just slide. kinda depends who’s involved lol

2

Foxhack May 5, 2026 +7

He paid the bribe and is free to go.

7

zshort7272 May 5, 2026 +6

Absolute f****** joke. Rules don’t apply to the rich, they will continue to do more to f*** everyone up, and will face zero consequences.

6

Chimvape May 4, 2026 +6

The law is a joke at this point.

6

cloudsmiles May 5, 2026 +6

0.000001875% of his worth. F*** this weak ass administration. We need to change how things work.

6

Luckydog12 May 5, 2026 +6

‘Government settles with Trumps corrupt friends over their corruption.’ This headline will repeat itself until 2029.

6

RobutNotRobot May 5, 2026 +7

Hey look public corruption in the open. Again.

7

GloomyLove2159 May 5, 2026 +6

His net worth is estimated on the LOW END to be 651 billion. A 1.5 million dollar fine is 0.00023% of his money. Not even chump change. If you had 100,000, the equivalent fine would $0.23. 23 CENTS.

6

Angelic_Doom May 4, 2026 +10

Expect nothing when billioners control the government.

10

askjeeves29 May 4, 2026 +21

Never has the swamp been so swampy yaknowatimsayin

21

XnoXhalo May 4, 2026 +14

Remember when Elon twitted that Donald J Trump was in the Epstein files. Pepperidge farm remembers.

14

CrashOverIt May 4, 2026 +5

Being rich must be f****** awesome. Buy a corporation and do whatever the hell you want to do. You can literally kill people and ruin as many lives as you possibly can and you’ll just have to pay a fine. Our system is a joke.

5

Civil_Ear5763 May 5, 2026 +5

And they’re losing their minds over someone buying soda with SNAP

5

Z34N0 May 5, 2026 +4

Ah.. so that’s what a billionaire’s subscription fee is for bypassing laws these days. Nice. Anyway..

4

jeanborrero May 4, 2026 +8

If the penalty for illegal things becomes a fine then that’s just another cost of doing business. Awful

8

PhazePyre May 4, 2026 +5

AKA he's paying a fee to do shitty stuff. Another example of the rich doing whatever they fuckin' want like horrid dragons. A reminder how dragons are supposed to be dealt with in the legends.

5

Pleasant-Ad887 May 4, 2026 +4

Of course he does. Whatever the settlement is it will be orders of magnitudes less than if went the full way. Shows how rich people get slapped on the wrist for being pieces of shit.

4

TheCzar11 May 5, 2026 +3

Hopefully, these government deals can be investigated and prosecuted if we return to the rule of law at some point. I’m voting for whoever promises tribunals…

3

Taokan May 5, 2026 +4

Wow ... I need to remember that excuse. No, it's not that I fraudulently didn't do the thing I was legally required to do ... I was just ... late.

4

Future-Fly-8987 May 5, 2026 +5

This does not rise to the level of a slap on the wrist.

5

New-Leader-7891 May 5, 2026 +3

So you can pay a bribe to commit a crime basically

3

LordBunnyWhale May 5, 2026 +4

Apparently crime does pay if you're ultra wealthy.

4

dabeeman May 4, 2026 +6

rich person avoids meaningful repercussions again could be an alternative and more accurate headline.

6

kataflokc May 4, 2026 +3

I’d call that little more than a slap on the wrist, but a slap would at least hurt

3

hylo23 May 5, 2026 +3

Someone may want to look into this. Seems like these rich people had a plan. Does anyone else have a plan?

3

Slim706 May 5, 2026 +3

Settlement. They might as well have let him keep the 1.5 million. That’s less than a drop in a bucket to him.

3

Designer_Holiday3284 May 5, 2026 +3

The law only applies to the poor.

3

AsteroidMike May 5, 2026 +3

God I’m so sick of Elon Musk.

3

Yelloeisok May 5, 2026 +3

$1.5 Million to a man worth $44 Billion doesn’t even amount to a tip.

3

Itchy_Tiger_8774 May 5, 2026 +3

I can't believe it took this long for Trump to tell them to drop it.

3

THAErAsEr May 5, 2026 +3

Failed banana republic type of shit

3

Own-Dependent-4601 May 5, 2026 +3

the part that stands out is no admission of wrongdoing pay a relatively small fine, keep the gains, case closed for regular investors this would look very different

3

venom21685 May 5, 2026 +3

Imagine if you could rob a bank and steal $250,000 and only get fined for $2,500.

3

troveofcatastrophe May 6, 2026 +2

.59 Cents

2

apoca1ypse12 May 5, 2026 +3

F****** corruption at its finest. F*** this mofo

3

WaffleBlues May 4, 2026 +5

Are we paying him money now? Or did the settlement end up with Trump personally getting paid by taxpayers?

5

Wdshow May 4, 2026 +5

Everyone is saying Elon made a great decision. If Trumps people weren’t in charge it would have been much more

5

JohnnyDrama611 May 4, 2026 +2

This is about the norm these days, if you have money, you can do whatever you want.

2

Sad-Math-2039 May 4, 2026 +2

Weird, it's like laws don't have any effect towards wealthy people.

2

ThePensiveE May 4, 2026 +2

He spent more on the election than he would have spent just not fighting this. He hates America and Americans that much.

2

Jaded-Kangaroo569 May 4, 2026 +2

Let me wet my beak Mr. Musk- the SEC.

2

deejay-tech May 4, 2026 +2

A corporation and the richest man on earth getting a slap on the wrist? You don't say.

2

InstructionPurple911 May 5, 2026 +2

Honestly I just hope that if I ever have to suffer any consequences for any of my crimes, it's the SEC that is handing down my sentence.

2

TrickyChildhood2917 May 5, 2026 +2

Isn’t America corrupt to the core. Asking for a friend

2

ButterMyPancakesPlz May 5, 2026 +2

Guess his work at fudging the election paid off

2

PigFarmer1 May 5, 2026 +2

It paid off bigly.

2

kathleen65 May 5, 2026 +2

I don’t think I have ever disliked any group of people until these billionaire assholes came along. Their greed is literally destroying this world and they don’t care.

2

junglepiehelmet May 5, 2026 +2

A slight slap on the wrist, f*** this government

2

shadowdra126 May 5, 2026 +2

That’s chump change to Elon. F*** that

2

Tricky_Search_5181 May 6, 2026 +2

In other words, he pays 1.5M to generate 150M. That sounds like a nice deal, not a punishment for something illegal

2

Shtankins01 May 6, 2026 +2

Which wrist is he being slapped on?

2

TheRexRider May 4, 2026 +5

Cost of doing business.

5

Mindless_Listen7622 May 4, 2026 +4

The most corrupt administration in history continues to demonstrate why it is the most corrupt administration in history.

4

Curmudgeonadjacent May 4, 2026 +5

Breaking laws and paying a fine is always the most cost effective way of doing business for the rich. Laws are for us commoners, not the oligarchs.

5

NapoleonBlownapart9 May 4, 2026 +3

Regulatory Capture is a real m*********** for democracy. 5% of his net worth would’ve gotten his and the other olighouls’ attention, maybe.

3

futureblackpopstar May 4, 2026 +2

I very much dislike Elon but I read an article (Matt Levine’s Money Stuff. Great stuff) about how they couldn’t find victims who needed to be made whole. He needed to disclose when he bought 5+% but everybody ultimately got a better price than they would’ve anyways. I think it’s still illegal and I want him punished for what he’s done to our democracy. But the settlement price KINDA makes sense to me in that context

2

DrunkEngr May 4, 2026 +6

Nobody was harmed by Martha Stewart’s insider trading but she still went to jail.

6

Pawtuckaway May 4, 2026 +11

That is why punitive damages exist. It doesn't matter if there are victims in this particular instance or not. Someone who commits fraud but everyone just happens to make out OK shouldn't be punished less than someone who commits the same fraud but victims lose money. This was the same argument when trump was committing fraud for loans and people were saying it was OK because there was no victim this time and the bank still made money.

11

MaggieSmith_49 May 4, 2026 +1

What is this Twitter ye are all talking about

1

Asketes May 4, 2026 +1

Just the price of doing business as a billionaire.

1

bluddystump May 4, 2026 +1

Until there is a return to meeting out equal justice for all the system will remain a market where the accused is allowed to bargain and pay their way out of trouble.

1

vintagegeek May 4, 2026 +1

Coincidental, 1.5 million is exactly his 'violate an SEC order' budget for the week.

1

Shabooooozy May 5, 2026 +1

Let me guess, we have to pay him.

1

blueintexas May 5, 2026 +1

Is the SEC going to pay home $100B with check signed by Trump

1

blzrlzr May 5, 2026 +1

Welllll the SEC won’t let me be or let me be me so let me see, they tried to shut him down on X you see but it feels so empty without… his shitty platform that he ruined.

1

writeorelse May 5, 2026 +1

If only this could have resulted in him having to rename it back and give it to someone else!

1

shadowsdonotlie May 5, 2026 +1

There is a cost for everything, SEC had to name their cost. He paid and he is now free to do it again.

1

GeefTheQueef May 5, 2026 +1

Wonder what the going rate is for a year of SEC litigators time. Seems like this is barely “pay us back for the time we spent investigating you”

1

iambarrelrider May 10, 2026 +1

Wake me up when there are real consequences.

1

SEC and Elon Musk agree to settle lawsuit over Twitter buyout in 2022

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