Elon Musk must step down as Tesla chair and pay a fine after reaching a deal with US regulators over tweets he posted about taking the firm private.

It follows Thursday's decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sue Mr Musk for alleged securities fraud.

Under the deal, Mr Musk will remain as Tesla CEO but has to step down as chairman for three years.

Both he and Tesla will also have to pay a $20m (£15m) fine.

The fraud allegation relates to his August tweet in which Mr Musk said he was considering taking electronic car maker Tesla off the stock market and into private ownership.

He wrote he had "funding secured" for the proposal, which would value Tesla at $420 per share. Shares in the company briefly rose after his announcement, but later fell again.

The SEC said those claims were "false and misleading".

"In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source," the regulator said.

Mr Musk initially responded to the charges by saying the action was "unjustified" and he acted in the "best interests of truth, transparency and investors".

In addition to the fines, Mr Musk will also have to comply with company communications procedures when tweeting about the firm.

He now has 45 days to leave his role as chairman of Tesla.

The SEC had initially sought to ban Mr Musk from working on the board of any publicly traded company, but under the deal he will now be able to stay on as Tesla's chief executive officer.

A new "independent chairman" for the company will be appointed, who will preside over the company's board. (BBC)

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