A lawyer for the billionaire told San Francisco jurors that Musk just used the “wrong words” when he tweeted that he had “secured” finance to take Tesla private.
A lawyer for investors has told the court that Elon Musk “lied” when he said he had “secured” funds to take Tesla private.
The company’s top executive tweeted in 2018 that he had “acquired” money to take the electric cars privately. Then later that investor support had been “confirmed,” causing the stock price to dip and then rise.
Less than three weeks later, Musk reversed his position.
Glen Littleton, a Tesla investor, is seeking damages on behalf of stockholders who purchased or sold stock in the days following Musk’s tweets, alleging that Musk’s statements cost them “millions”
However, Musk’s attorney contended in court that the billionaire simply used the “wrong words” while tweeting about his intentions.
During opening arguments, Nicholas Porritt, the main counsel for the investors. Told a San Francisco jury that “millions of money were lost when Musk’s lies were uncovered.”
However, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, stated that Musk was “serious” about taking the firm private in 2018. But ultimately ran across shareholder opposition.
“You will quickly discover that this was not fraud in any way,” he told the jury.
However, the attorney informed the jury that Musk’s tweet had “technical inaccuracies.”
“In a hurry, he used inappropriate language,” he told the court.
Littleton testified before the court that he had invested in Tesla in 2015.
He stated that after seeing Musk’s “financing secured” tweet, he hurried to unwind his unprofitable Tesla options contracts.
A jury of nine will determine whether Musk’s tweets unduly raised Tesla’s share price by exaggerating the deal’s financial status and, if so, by how much.
On Friday, the trial will resume with an expert witness, and Musk may take the stand.
Last Monday, the judge, Edward Chen, refused Musk’s plea to relocate the case to Texas, citing his concern that possible jurors in California might be predisposed against him.
He blamed harsh media coverage of the hundreds of employees he has eliminated at San Francisco-based Twitter since assuming control of the social media platform in October.
The jury will decide whether Musk’s tweets swayed investors, whether he acted with malice, and whether damages should be paid.
Judge Chen has already decided that the SpaceX owner’s assertions were false. But the defendants will argue that he had reasonable grounds to assume finance for taking Tesla private was secured.
