Elon Musk forced to allow pre-approval of his future tweets about Tesla, as well as paying $20mn and losing chairman post

Elon Musk has settled with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which had sued him for fraud over his tweets about taking Tesla private. Musk will have to step down as chairman, but gets to keep his CEO status.
According to the settlement filing, Musk is given 45 days to step down as chairman of the board of directors of Tesla, Inc for three years. He will also have to pay a $20 million fine.

Another $20mn will be paid by Tesla to settle claims it had failed to vet Musk’s initial tweet.

The SEC complaint accused Musk of misleading investors with his August 7 tweet which said he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share, boosting the company’s stock by more than 10 percent. Musk recanted a few weeks later, saying he would keep Tesla private and triggering investors’ fury. The SEC ruled Musk’s initial words “were false and misleading because they lacked any basis in fact.”