Judge rejects Musk’s bid to shift SEC Twitter case to Texas

A Washington, DC judge rejected Elon Musk’s request to shift an SEC lawsuit over his delayed disclosure of Twitter shares to Texas, despite his argument that he was too busy to fight the case in the capital.

US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said on Thursday she "takes Mr Musk's convenience seriously," but the world's richest person has "considerable means" and spends at least 40% of his time outside Texas.

"Indeed," she wrote, "Mr Musk's brief itself indicates that he has spent substantial time here this year," when he ran the Department of Government Efficiency.

Sooknanan also said Texas judges have bigger caseloads than in her court, and she could proceed with "reasonable alacrity."

In seeking to move the case, Musk said he was an "incredibly busy individual" who works 80-plus hour weeks and often sleeps in the office or factory, and that litigating in Washington would impose "substantial burdens."

Lawyers for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the SEC had no comment, citing the government shutdown. Musk's fortune surpassed $500 billion for the first time on Wednesday.

The SEC sued Musk in January, saying his 11-day delay in revealing his initial 5% Twitter stake in early 2022 let him buy more than $500 million of shares at artificially low prices.

It wants Musk to pay a civil fine and give up $150 million he allegedly saved at the expense of unsuspecting investors. Musk is seeking to dismiss the case. He bought all of Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and renamed it X.

Musk lives in Austin, and his companies Tesla, SpaceX and Boring tunnel business are based in Texas.

Sooknanan rejected Musk's alternative proposal to move the SEC case to Manhattan, where former Twitter shareholders are suing him.