Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A federal jury on March 20 found tech billionaire Elon Musk liable for misleading Twitter shareholders by driving down the social media platform’s stock price months before acquiring it for $44 billion in 2022.
The decision follows a civil class action lawsuit filed by Twitter investors in October 2022. Musk agreed to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share in April 2022 but later tried to back out of the deal, leading the company to take legal action to enforce it. He ultimately completed the acquisition in October 2022 and rebranded Twitter to X.
The shareholders alleged that Musk made misleading statements after agreeing to buy Twitter in April 2022, leading them to sell their shares. They alleged that he published the statements to drive down Twitter stock prices in a bid to renegotiate the deal.
In a verdict on March 20, jurors found Musk liable for misleading investors through two social media posts. The first post said the deal was “temporarily on hold” pending verification that bots accounted for less than 5 percent of users on the social media platform.
In the second post, Musk suggested the percentage of bots could exceed 20 percent and said the buyout of Twitter could not go forward until he received confirmation that it was less than 5 percent.
However, the jury found that the plaintiffs failed to substantiate claims that Musk had engaged in a scheme to defraud investors.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Mark Molumphy, called the verdict an “important victory” for both Twitter investors and the public markets.
“I think the jury’s verdict sends a strong message that just because you’re a rich and powerful person, you still have to obey the law, and no man is above the law,” Molumphy told The Associated Press.
Musk’s legal team at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan said in a statement to multiple news outlets that they plan to appeal the verdict.
“We view today’s verdict, where the jury found both for and against the plaintiffs and found no fraud scheme, as a bump in the road. And we look forward to vindication on appeal,” his legal counsel said.
Musk also faces a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which alleged that he violated federal securities laws by delaying disclosure of his acquisition of Twitter stock in March 2022, before making an offer to buy the company.
The SEC said the delay had allowed Musk to buy more shares at lower prices, allowing him to “underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his beneficial ownership report was due,” according to the January 2025 filing. Musk has sought dismissal of the suit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
