Elon Musk’s X reaches settlement with former Twitter execs as Atkins readies ‘innovation exemption’ crypto law

— SEC chair Paul Atkins is preparing to codify an ‘innovation exemption’, a regulatory carve-out designed to allow crypto and tokenization projects to operate under lighter oversight while the SEC crafts new rules.

As reported by decrypt, the exemption would grant conditional relief from certain legacy securities requirements to facilitate product launches, new trading models and decentralized finance innovations that don’t neatly align with traditional regulatory frameworks.

Atkins first floated the idea publicly in mid-2025, saying that staff are ‘considering what other changes may be appropriate… including an innovation exception that would permit novel ways of trading’ and more narrowly tailored relief.

The SEC comissioner expects formal rulemaking to begin by the end of 2025 or in early 2026, though the current US government shutdown is delaying progress.

In remarks at a recent Futures & Derivatives Law event, he reaffirmed that the exemption is a ‘top priority’ and confident the SEC can meet its timeline, despite institutional and bureaucratic hurdles.

— Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has reached a settlement with four former top executives at the social media company who claimed they were denied $128 mn in severance pay after the Tesla CEO’s takeover in 2022.

The plaintiffs include ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, ex-CFO Ned Segal, ex-chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and ex-general counsel Sean Edgett. They alleged that Musk reneged on promises of one year’s salary plus significant stock-based compensation and accused him of falsely claiming misconduct to justify their dismissal.

As reported by Reuters (paywall), the exact terms of the settlement were not made public. Earlier, a federal judge delayed further filings and hearings to allow the agreement to be finalized.

This case is one among multiple legal challenges Musk faces following his 2022 acquisition of Twitter for $44 bn, including a separate class action by rank-and-file employees seeking roughly $500 mn in severance.

Musk and X have denied wrongdoing, saying the executives were let go due to performance issues.

— Global software company Dayforce’s largest shareholder, T Rowe Price Associates, has announced it will vote against a proposed $12.3 bn buyout by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, arguing the offer undervalues the company.

According to Reuters, T Rowe Price, which holds about 15.7 percent of Dayforce, claimed that selling the company now would not reflect its long-term potential. They observed that the company’s fundamentals remain strong and criticized the bid as capitalizing on short-term weakness in valuation metrics.

The proposed acquisition was announced in August, as Thoma Bravo seeks to expand into the human capital management software space by adding Dayforce’s recurring revenue business model. Despite Dayforce shares having already risen over 30 percent since the deal was revealed, the offered price per share still falls short of T Rowe Price’s expectations of what the business is truly worth.

No response to the opposition statement was immediately made by Thoma Bravo or Dayforce.

— A shareholder of UnitedHealth Group, through the advocacy group The Accountability Board, has formally proposed the company separate its CEO and board chair roles.

As reported by Bloomberg (paywall), Stephen Hemsley currently holds both positions, serving as board chair since 2017 and resuming the CEO role in May 2025, following the abrupt departure of his predecessor, Andrew Witty.

The Accountability Board argues that combining these roles concentrates too much power in one individual and undermines the board’s oversight function.

Their proposal would amend the company’s bylaws to codify an independent board chair going forward. It allows for waiver only when no independent director is available and would apply prospectively – not automatically displacing Hemsley now.

The push comes amid mounting challenges for UnitedHealth: a substantial stock decline, downward revisions to its earnings outlook, a serious cybersecurity breach, regulatory scrutiny and internal leadership turnover.

— The European Parliament is pushing to significantly weaken the EU’s corporate sustainability law, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), by narrowing which firms it will apply to and easing its requirements.

According to Reuters, under the proposed changes, only companies with at least 5,000 employees and €1.5 bn ($1.7 bn) in turnover would be subject to the law. That marks a sharp increase from the original thresholds of 1,000 employees and €450 mn turnover.

The CSDDD, adopted in 2024, had aimed to oblige companies to identify and address human rights and environmental harms throughout their supply chains or face penalties of up to 5 percent of global turnover.

The new deal, struck by the centre-right EPP group in European parliament together with Socialists and Liberals, represents a compromise to avoid an even more extreme rollback negotiated with far-right lawmakers.
 

Socialist lawmakers initially resisted but accepted the amendments under pressure, with some even withdrawing from the negotiations in protest. The proposal will go to a full parliamentary vote later this month, before entering talks with EU member states.