Liam Denning, Columnist

Musk Wins! The SEC Blinks! Tesla Loses

The CEO gets off light, but it’s no vindication or relief for his company.

September 30, 2018 at 12:08 AM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

Elon Musk got off light in an SEC settlement.
Photographer: Joshua Lott/Getty Images North America

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Elon Musk just dodged a bullet. It’s Tesla that bears the scars.

Just a couple of days after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla Inc.’s chairman and CEO — an action he described as “unjustified” — Musk has settled. Without admitting wrongdoing in connection with his bizarre claims of having teed up a buyout of the company in August, Musk will pay a fine of $20 million and relinquish the position of chairman for at least three years.