The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued billionaire Elon Musk, saying he failed to disclose his ownership of Twitter stock in a timely manner in early 2022, before buying the social media site.

The SEC has sued billionaire X owner Elon Musk, alleging he failed to disclose his ownership of Twitter stock in a timely manner in 2022.

Elon Musk cheated Twitter shareholders by waiting too long to disclose his growing stake in the company, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims.

Elon Musk was sued on Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the world's richest person of waiting too long to disclose in 2022 he had amassed a large stake in Twitter,

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk on Tuesday over an alleged securities violation relating to his acquisition of

Twitter's stock price rose 27 percent once Musk belatedly disclosed his stake, the lawsuit said. "During the period that Musk was required to publicly disclose his beneficial ownership but had failed to do so, he spent more than $500 million purchasing additional shares of Twitter common stock," it said.

The lawsuit accused Musk of misleading shareholders by not reporting his 2022 investment in the social-media company in a timely manner.

The SEC sued Elon Musk, accusing the X owner of failing to properly disclose his purchases of Twitter stock in 2022.

The financial regulator wants Musk to pay a civil penalty and remedies over alleged “unjust enrichment” ahead of his 2022 purchase of the social network.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued tech billionaire Elon Musk, alleging he committed securities fraud by failing to disclose his ownership of Twitter.