Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter takeover, US jury finds
Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter takeover, US jury finds
A US jury has ruled that Elon Musk intentionally misled investors during the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. The decision emerged from a civil trial in San Francisco, where Musk was partially cleared of certain fraud charges.
The lawsuit, filed prior to Musk’s takeover, centered on his statements that led to a drop in the company’s stock price. Jurors were tasked with determining whether Musk’s remarks on a podcast in May 2022 constituted deliberate deception.
“He trashed the company. Trashed the executives. And tanked the stock,” said Mark Molumphy, the shareholders’ lawyer, during his closing argument on Tuesday.
While the exact damages remain pending, the court’s ruling suggests Musk may owe billions to affected shareholders. Many of these investors are institutional entities that sold shares based on his public claims.
Musk’s fortune, currently valued at approximately $814 billion, is largely tied to Tesla shares. The case revolved around his assertion that Twitter’s data on bot accounts was inaccurate, which he used to justify withdrawing from the purchase.
After initially withdrawing from the deal, Twitter pursued legal action to enforce the original agreement, leading Musk to finalize the acquisition in October 2022. His defense argued that concerns about bots were genuine and that his statements did not indicate fraudulent intent.
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The billionaire is separately in talks to settle a US Securities and Exchange Commission civil lawsuit
Musk is also engaged in discussions to resolve an SEC civil case, which alleges he delayed disclosing early stock purchases to manipulate prices before investors learned of his actions.