Elon Musk started in a San Francisco courtroom Monday where he left off last week — defending himself against claims that a pair of tweets he hastily fired off 4 1/2 years ago caused Tesla Inc. investors to suffer millions of dollars in losses.
(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk started in a San Francisco courtroom Monday where he left off last week — defending himself against claims that a pair of tweets he hastily fired off 4 1/2 years ago caused Tesla Inc. investors to suffer millions of dollars in losses.
The shareholders contend in a class-action lawsuit that the tweets were lies that cost them big losses from wild stock price swings over a 10-day period before the plan was abandoned.
The trial requires jurors to delve into Musk’s state of mind when he posted the messages, and to determine whether the billionaire’s social media posts really influenced investor trading.
On Friday, when he first took the witness stand, the renowned entrepreneur and prolific Twitter user offered a remarkably modest assessment of his influence on the social media network that he now owns: “Just because I tweet about something doesn’t mean people believe it or will act accordingly.”
Read More: An Acerbic Musk Risks Losing Billions If He Takes Lawyers’ Bait
The testimony showed Musk minimizing his role in the electric car-maker’s surging stock price after he tweeted on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420-a-share and added that “investor support is confirmed.”
Musk’s lawyers told the jury during opening statements last week that while his tweets were rushed and contained technical errors, they accurately conveyed that he was sincere about taking Tesla private. Musk is expected to testify that the short-lived plan was solid based on discussions he had with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
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