Home / Business and Economy / Musk Admits "Not Wisest" Twitter Tweet Amid Lawsuit
Musk Admits "Not Wisest" Twitter Tweet Amid Lawsuit
5 Mar
Summary
- Musk told a jury his tweet was not meant to manipulate Twitter's stock.
- Investors allege losing money after Musk threatened to exit the deal.
- Musk admitted his "on hold" tweet might have been a poor choice.
Elon Musk admitted in a San Francisco court that a tweet concerning his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter "may not have been my wisest." He told the jury on Wednesday that the post was not intended to manipulate the platform's stock price during the takeover negotiations.
A group of Twitter investors claims they suffered financial losses after Musk signaled he might abandon the deal, a move they allege was to gain leverage. Musk had signed a binding agreement to purchase Twitter in April 2022 but later began raising concerns about the number of bots on the platform.
On May 13, 2022, Musk tweeted that the deal was "temporarily on hold" unless Twitter could prove fake accounts represented less than 5% of users, causing the stock to drop 9%. He stated this tweet was made early in the morning without consulting advisors and later acknowledged, "it may not have been my wisest tweet."
Shareholders who sold their stock at a lower price after the tweet are now suing, as the acquisition eventually closed in October 2022 at the original terms. Plaintiffs' lawyers suggested Musk employed a "rope a dope" strategy, a claim Musk denied, asserting he was "simply speaking my mind." He is scheduled for a separate trial next month concerning OpenAI.
