Elon Musk's SEC drama is over almost as soon as it begun -- the entrepreneur has settled with the SEC over the securities fraud charge for his tweets about taking Tesla private. He'll get to keep the CEO position and won't have to admit guilt, but he'll have to step down as Chairman and let an independent person take that position. He won't be eligible for that position for three years, the SEC said. Tesla will also have to appoint a total of two new directors, create a committee of independent directors and establish "additional controls and procedures" for Musk's communications. Both Musk and Tesla will pay $20 million each in penalties, all of which will go toward "harmed investors."
Musk needs to step down and let the talented people he hires run the company. He won't, tho.
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Nepotist: Musk originally rejected what was a better version of this same offer (2 years off as chairman instead of 3), but then the next day accepted this worse settlement. My guess is he felt somehow like he didn't do anything wrong and the SEC was being unreasonable, and his lawyers were able to convince him of how utterly wrong he was.