Jury finds Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter purchase, absolves him of some fraud claims
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A jury has found Elon Musk liable for defrauding investors by deliberately driving down Twitter’s stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion. But it absolved him of some fraud allegations, finding that he did not “scheme” to mislead investors.
The civil trial in San Francisco centred on a class-action lawsuit filed just before Musk took control of Twitter, which he later renamed X.
Jurors were asked to decide if two tweets and comments Musk made on a podcast in May 2022 amounted to him intentionally defrauding Twitter shareholders, who sold their shares based on Musk’s statements.
The nine-person jury returned the verdict after nearly four days of deliberation, nearly three weeks after the trial began on March 2.
They said that while Musk was liable for misleading investors with two tweets — including one said the Twitter deal was “temporarily on hold,” he did not do so with a statement he made on a podcast and that he did not intentionally “scheme” to defraud investors.
The jury awarded shareholders between about $3 and $8 per stock per day as damages, which the plaintiffs’ lawyers said amounts to about $2.1 billion in stock and another $500 million in options. Musk’s fortune is currently estimated at about $814 billion, much of it tied up in Tesla shares.
“It’s an important victory, not just for investors of Twitter, but for the public markets,” said Mark Molumphy, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
“I think the jury’s verdict sends a strong message that just because you’re a rich and powerful person, you still have to obey the law, and no man is above the law.”
Musk’s legal team referenced other cases Musk won and said they will appeal.
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