That's a weird narrative you are saying. SEC settled quickly and little because this is not a "bad" security fraud. There's little reason to punish him harshly

That's a weird narrative you are saying. SEC settled quickly and little because this is not a "bad" security fraud. There's little reason to punish him harshly since he probably doesn't have malicious intent. The punishment has to fit the crime after all. No reason for the SEC to destroy a person and company over a tweet. They have to have some punishments though because the fraud was too obvious. The Thursday's failed settlement was slightly better that this one too. SEC's case is likely to hold up in court because Musk's recklessness was too obvious but the court's punishment would probably be similar to the settlement.