A California jury has delivered a massive blow to Elon Musk – ordering the billionaire to compensate former Twitter shareholders for significant losses. The verdict concludes that Musk deliberately manipulated the social media platform’s market value ahead of his 2022 acquisition.
The San Francisco federal court determined on Friday that the mogul misled investors with public commentary regarding the prevalence of bot accounts. Bloomberg reports that these findings center on Musk’s strategic effort to sabotage the $44 billion merger by casting doubt on official metrics.
Central to the dispute was the gap between official data and Musk’s public assertions. While Twitter maintained that spam profiles accounted for less than 5% of its active users – Musk insisted his independent research suggested a staggering 33% were fakes.
His estimates later shifted to a more modest 20% – though he continued to suggest the real number was likely higher. These statements were coupled with a public ultimatum – claiming the takeover could not proceed without definitive proof of Twitter’s claims.
This legal battle stems from a class action lawsuit first filed in October 2022.
Jurors concluded that these comments were a deliberate effort to drive down Twitter’s stock price. By depressing the company’s valuation – the jury found that Musk harmed investors who sold their shares during the period of uncertainty. Consequently – the X owner may have to pay up to $2.6 billion in damages.
Legal representatives for the billionaire have already vowed to appeal the ruling.
This ruling highlights the legal risks of Musk’s unfiltered social media presence. His influential posts often sway market sentiment – frequently inviting scrutiny from regulators and shareholders.
However – Musk has a history of winning such high-stakes legal challenges.
In 2019 – the BBC reported that Musk won a defamation case brought by Vernon Unsworth. The dispute involved a tweet where Musk labeled the cave explorer a “pedo” during the Thai rescue. This was a major test for social media legal thresholds.
CNN reported that Musk also defeated a lawsuit regarding a 2018 post about taking Tesla private. Shareholders claimed he manipulated the stock price with his “funding secured” comment – but Musk ultimately won that legal battle.
It is expected that his defense team will now fight to overturn this latest verdict. A successful appeal would allow him to avoid the multi-billion dollar penalty.
A date for the appeal hearing will be set in the future.
