The SEC asked the court to find Musk in contempt over their previous agreement. Instead, Musk is further muzzled.

Reuters reports Tesla's Musk agrees to new vetting rules for tweets in SEC deal.

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has reached a deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a dispute over his use of Twitter, agreeing to submit his public statements about the company's finances and other topics to vetting by its legal counsel, according to a court filing on Friday.

If it is approved by a judge, the deal means the Tesla founder no longer faces the prospect of being held in contempt for violating an earlier settlement with the agency, which had required him to submit statements "material" to investors for prior review.

The new agreement, disclosed in a filing in Manhattan federal court, lays out in more detail exactly what kinds of statements must be reviewed.

"It could really have turned out far worse for him," said Stephen Diamond, a professor of securities law at Santa Clara University. "The consequences of thumbing his nose at the SEC could have been far worse for him and the company."