Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been found liable for misleading investors during his 2022 acquisition of Twitter, now known as X. A federal jury in San Francisco delivered the verdict on Friday, finding that Musk’s statements in May 2022 contained false and misleading information that drove down the social media company’s share price.
The class-action lawsuit centered on two tweets and comments made by Musk during a podcast appearance, according to court documents. One tweet stated the deal to purchase Twitter was “temporarily on hold,” prompting a nearly 10% drop in the company’s stock price in a single session. Investors alleged that these statements were inaccurate and intended to manipulate the market.
While the jury determined that Musk misled investors with the tweets, they also found he did not intentionally “scheme” to defraud them, and cleared him of wrongdoing regarding his comments made on the podcast. The nine-person jury’s decision followed nearly four days of deliberation after a three-week trial.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs estimate damages at approximately $2.6 billion, though the final amount will be determined by the court. Mark Molumphy, a lawyer representing the shareholders, described the verdict as “an important victory, not just for investors of Twitter, but for the public markets,” adding that it “sends a strong message that just because you’re a rich and powerful person, you still have to obey the law.”
Musk’s legal team, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, stated they would appeal the ruling. “We view today’s verdict, where the jury found both for and against the plaintiffs and found no fraud scheme, as a bump in the road,” the firm said in a statement.
As of Saturday, Musk had not publicly commented on the jury’s decision. He is an active user of X, the platform he acquired in October 2022 for $44 billion. The acquisition, completed after a period of uncertainty and legal challenges, transformed Twitter into X Corp.
This verdict follows a similar case in 2023, where a jury in the same San Francisco court cleared Musk of charges of misleading investors related to Tesla. That case involved claims made in 2018 regarding taking Tesla private, a deal that ultimately did not materialize. Musk has often been referred to as “Teflon Elon” due to his success in navigating complex legal battles.
Musk’s current net worth is estimated at $814 billion, according to recent reports, with a significant portion of his wealth tied to his ownership in Tesla.
