The SEC probed Boeing and looked at if Muilenburg failed to tell shareholders about material problems with its jetliner that crashed in 2018 and 2019. SEC was less interested in the fact that the plane dropped out of the sky and killing people as it was that Boeing might have lied to shareholders.

By giving SEC a briefcase of cash, Boeing does not have to admit anything. Boeing pays $200 million and Muilenburg has to stump up $1 million and everything is forgotten.

The crashes killed 346 people and prompted one of the longest groundings in aviation history. The SEC enforcement action is one of the last remaining government investigations.

Boeing had cautioned in its most recently quarterly filing that the "outcome of which may be material." Boeing paid a $243.3 million fine as part of a $2.5 billion settlement with the US Justice Department to end a criminal investigation in January 2021.