Elon Musk found liable for defrauding Twitter investors

A San Francisco jury ruled Friday that Elon Musk defrauded Twitter investors during his chaotic $44 billion acquisition of the platform in 2022 — and losses could exceed $2.6 billion.

As reported by Courthouse News Service, the case focuses on a series of tweets and public statements made by Musk in May 2022, when he publicly cast doubt on the deal by claiming that spam and bot accounts made up a significant portion of Twitter’s user base. Investors argued that he was making an excuse to either back out or renegotiate the deal on cheaper terms, depressing the stock in the process. The lead plaintiff in the case sued Musk in October 2022.

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After deliberating, the jury unanimously found that Musk’s May 13 and May 17 tweets were indeed false or misleading. However, they did not find him liable for his May 16 conference remarks in which he claimed that 20% of Twitter users were spam accounts. The jury also rejected the plaintiffs’ claims of a widespread fraud scheme.

Musk’s legal team has already indicated they will appeal the decision, calling it “a hurdle in the way.”

Plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Molumphy told Courthouse News that the ruling makes it clear that money does not exempt anyone from accountability — a point that seems increasingly noticeable these days.

Subject
X/Twitter Elon Musk



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