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BREAKING NEWS: Elon Musk Did NOT Violate Federal Securities Law When He Tweeted About Taking Tesla Private, Jury Says
- Elon Musk won a huge victory in court after a jury found he was not responsible for 2018 tweets about the possibility of taking Tesla private.
- On Friday afternoon, the nine-person jury said the investors in the class action case could not prove they were misled by tweeting about a potential settlement.
Elon Musk scored a huge victory in the courtroom after a jury found he was not responsible for misleading investors in 2018 tweets about taking Tesla private.
On Friday afternoon, the nine-person jury said the investors in the class action case could not prove they were misled by the Tesla CEO.
In 2018, Musk tweeted that he had the financing to take Tesla private, though it turned out he hadn’t gotten a firm commitment for an aborted deal that would have cost $20 billion to $70 billion.
The tweets caused Tela shares to rise during a 10-day period covered by the lawsuit before reversing after Musk walked out on a deal, according to evidence presented during the three-week trial.
Elon Musk, center, leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco on Friday after a jury found he was not responsible for misleading investors in a 2018 tweet.
Pictured: A court sketch of Musk awaiting the jury’s verdict on Friday.
The infamous 2018 read: ‘I’m considering taking Tesla private at $420. Financing secured.
It was then followed by another tweet saying the trade was imminent: ‘Investor support confirmed. The only reason this is not certain is that it depends on the shareholder vote.
Alex Spiro, Musk’s lawyer, admitted that the 2018 tweets were “technically inaccurate” but told the jury: “Just because it’s a bad tweet doesn’t mean it’s a fraud.”
The last day of the trial was notable when Musk appeared in court, even though his presence was not legally required.
He sat stoically in court when he was vilified as a wealthy narcissist whose reckless behavior risks ‘lawlessness’, while his defense hailed him as a visionary looking for the ‘little guy’.
If the juries had decided that the tweets misled investors, Musk and Tesla would have had to pay billions of dollars in damages.
Although his presence was not required, Musk still appeared in court after a four-year dispute with Tesla investors who claimed he misled them.
Investors said Tesla’s value changed because of Musks’ tweets in 2018 that said he was taking the company private at $420 a share.
Nicholas Porritt, a lawyer for Tesla shareholders in the trial, had urged jurors to rebuke Musk for his “loose relationship with the truth.”
“Our society is based on rules,” Porritt said. ‘We need rules to save us from anarchy. The rules should apply to Elon Musk like everyone else.”
Glen Littleton, the plaintiff in the case, testified that he had liquidated positions after Musks’ tweet because he believed Tesla was going private, The Wall Street Journal reports.
“This posed a threat to my livelihood,” Littleton told the court.
This is a developing story.