Home / Crime and Justice / Judge Upholds Jury Decision Against Musk
Judge Upholds Jury Decision Against Musk
7 Jul
Summary
- Elon Musk's bid to void Twitter investor fraud verdict was rejected.
- A judge upheld a jury finding that Musk defrauded investors.
- Damages for Musk's actions could total approximately $2.6 billion.
A United States federal judge has denied Elon Musk's request to void a jury's verdict which determined he defrauded Twitter investors. Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco ruled that Musk's attempts to lower Twitter's stock price after agreeing to a $44 billion takeover were deceptive. The judge also rejected Musk's motion to decertify the investor class and granted prejudgment interest to the investors. Musk was found not liable for one challenged tweet.
Investors argued that Musk's tweets in May 2022, questioning bot percentages, were a pretext to renegotiate or withdraw from his acquisition deal. The judge found substantial evidence of falsity in Musk's May 13 tweet, noting a clear motive to exit the deal. However, the judge agreed with Musk that a separate May 17 tweet did not significantly impact investor losses due to a lack of market reaction. Musk's claim that jurors were biased by highlighting the '$4.20' figure on the verdict form was also rejected by the judge.
