A federal judge on Friday rejected the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s request to sanction Elon Musk after he failed to appear for court-ordered testimony for the regulator’s probe into his $44 billion takeover of Twitter.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco said sanctions over Musk’s Sept. 10 absence were unnecessary, after the world’s richest person testified on Oct. 3 and agreed to pay the SEC’s $2,923 of travel costs.

“Because the present circumstances forestall any occasion for meaningful relief that the court could grant, the SEC’s request is moot,” Corley wrote.

The SEC had sought a declaration that Musk violated a May 31 court order to provide testimony.

It said having only to repay travel costs would not deter many other people from ignoring court orders, “much less someone of Musk’s extraordinary means.”