February 4, 2023

Elon Musk cleared in trial about old Tesla tweets

Posted By: techrossm

The jury didn’t give a hoot.

Elon Musk does not owe Tesla investors any money for allegedly lying about a potential deal to take the company private in 2018, a jury decided in San Francisco federal court.

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Tesla investors filed a civil suit against Musk for tweeting in August 2018 that he had “funding secured” from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take his electric car company private. Musk did not have the funding, and Tesla stock fluctuated wildly from Aug. 7 to 17 that year, eventually costing shareholders $14 billion.

Max Weiss, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the suit against Musk, loads a chart and equipment into a vehicle while leaving federal court in San Francisco on Friday. — Max Weiss, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the suit against Musk, loads a chart and equipment into a vehicle while leaving federal court in San Francisco on Friday. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

The Securities and Exchange Commission fined Musk $40 million for the truthless tweets after the federal agency determined he manipulated Tesla’s stock.

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But the shareholders’ class-action lawsuit was not so successful. A nine-member jury deliberated for just two hours before determining on Friday that Musk was not liable.

“Thank goodness, the wisdom of the people has prevailed!” Musk, a 51-year-old multibillionaire, tweeted after he was cleared.

Elon Musk leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco on Friday. — Elon Musk leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco on Friday. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

Earlier in the three-week trial, Musk testified for more than eight hours in his own defense.

“Just because I tweet something does not mean people believe it or will act accordingly,” Musk said at one point.

Between the 2018 tweets and the 2023 trial, Tesla stock skyrocketed as it carved out a dominant share of the expanding electric vehicle market. That rise made Musk the richest man in the world.

However, Tesla stock has tumbled in recent months, with shareholders demonstrating their concern that Musk has diverted most of his attention to Twitter, which he purchased in late October.

With News Wire Services

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