In reality, a buyout was not close. Tesla and Musk settled by agreeing to each pay $20 million in civil fines and let lawyers vet some of Musk's communications in advance, including Twitter posts that could affect Tesla's stock price. Musk also gave up Tesla's chairmanship. "I never lied to shareholders," Musk told Nathan in a separate court filing. "I entered into the consent decree for the survival of Tesla, for the sake of its shareholders." In his filing, Musk said he was "forced" to sign the decree, citing the SEC's "unrelenting regulatory pressure" and as the "SEC's action stood to jeopardize the company's financing." He said Tesla's investor relations teams said at that time that several large shareholders "could cede their ownership in Tesla - substantially impacting Tesla's financing - if the case was not settled expediently."