Elon Musk Testifies in Court for Fraud Trial Involving 2018 Tesla Tweet and Alleged Saudi Investment
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is set to testify once more on Monday as he refutes allegations of fraud. He faces accusations of misleading investors with a tweet from 2018 in which he claimed to have secured funding to privatize the electric car company.
Millions of dollars and Musk’s reputation are on the line, as his personal standing is a key asset to the Tesla brand. The trial will determine if Musk’s habit of sharing his unfiltered views on Twitter misleads investors and harms the company’s value.
In a unique securities class action trial, the plaintiffs have overcome significant legal obstacles, including a ruling by U.S. Judge Edward Chen that deemed Musk’s post as untruthful and reckless. Shareholders allege they suffered substantial financial losses following Musk’s tweet claiming he had “funding secured” to privatize Tesla.
Musk on Friday called Twitter, which he bought in October, the most democratic way to communicate but said his tweets did not always affect Tesla stock the way he expects.
“Just because I tweet something does not mean people believe it or will act accordingly,” Musk told the jury in San Francisco federal court.
The billionaire is expected on Monday to address why he insisted he had Saudi investor backing to take Tesla private, which never occurred, and whether he knowingly made a materially misleading statement with his tweet.
Some outside trial lawyers have said he appears to have a thin skin and can be needled. But Musk on Friday spoke softly and in a sometimes bemused manner, a contrast to his occasional combative testimony in past trials.
Musk described the difficulties the company went through around the time he sent the “funding secured” tweet.
He was asked about messages sent to him by Tesla investor Ron Baron, who urged him to stop using Twitter, but Musk said he didn’t recall and received thousands of messages.
He discussed the challenges the company faced at the time, including bets by short-sellers that the stock would fall.
“A bunch of sharks on Wall Street wanted Tesla to die, very badly,” he said.
Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told the jury in his opening statement Wednesday that Musk believed he had financing from Saudi backers and was taking steps to make the deal happen. Fearing leaks to the media, Musk tried to protect the “everyday shareholder” by sending the tweet, which contained “technical inaccuracies,” Spiro said.
A jury of nine will decide whether the tweet artificially inflated Tesla’s share price by playing up the status of funding for the deal, and if so, by how much.
The defendants include current and former Tesla directors, whom Spiro said had “pure” motives in their response to Musk’s plan.
