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Elon Musk · Investor Fraud · Legal Verdict · Twitter
A San Francisco jury found Elon Musk liable for defrauding Twitter investors by deliberately driving down the company's stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition, awarding shareholders approximately $2.6 billion in damages, though absolving him of some fraud claims.
The civil trial, stemming from a class-action lawsuit filed before Musk took control of Twitter (later renamed X), focused on two specific tweets and a podcast comment made in May 2022. Jurors determined Musk misled investors with two tweets, including one stating the Twitter deal was "temporarily on hold," but not with his podcast statement, which they deemed an opinion.
Crucially, the jury absolved Musk of intentionally "scheming" to defraud investors. Plaintiffs' attorney Mark Molumphy hailed the verdict as an "important victory" for public markets, emphasizing that "no man is above the law." Musk's legal team, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, referenced other recent victories and stated they would appeal the verdict, calling it a "bump in the road." The case highlighted Musk's claims about Twitter's bot numbers, which he used as a reason to initially retreat from the $44 billion purchase before ultimately honoring the original deal.
