Musk stated in a tweet that Tesla would build half a million cars that year.[353] The SEC reacted by asking a court to hold him in contempt for violating the terms of the 2018 settlement agreement. A joint agreement between Musk and the SEC eventually clarified the previous agreement details,[354] including a list of topics about which Musk needed preclearance.[355] In 2020, a judge blocked a lawsuit that claimed a tweet by Musk regarding Tesla stock price ("too high imo") violated the agreement.[356][357] Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)-released records showed that the SEC concluded Musk had subsequently violated the agreement twice by tweeting regarding "Tesla's solar roof production volumes and its stock price".[358]
In October 2023, the SEC sued Musk over his refusal to testify a third time in an investigation into whether he violated federal law by purchasing Twitter stock in 2022.[359][360][361] In February 2024, Judge Laurel Beeler ruled that Musk must testify again.[362] In January 2025, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Musk for securities violations related to his purchase of Twitter.[363] In January 2024, Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled in a 2018 lawsuit that Musk's $55 billion pay package from Tesla be rescinded.[364] McCormick called the compensation granted by the company's board "an unfathomable sum" that was unfair to shareholders.