A U.S. federal jury has found Elon Musk liable in a civil case accusing him of misleading Twitter shareholders during his attempt to acquire the company in 2022.
The decision came after a closely followed trial in San Francisco.
The case centered on claims that Musk made statements about the number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter that may have influenced the company’s stock price. Shareholders argued that these statements created uncertainty and pushed the stock lower, allowing Musk to renegotiate or potentially walk away from the deal.
Jurors found Musk responsible for two specific statements. One was his claim that the deal was temporarily on hold while he verified that fake accounts made up less than 5 percent of users. The other was his suggestion that the number of bots could be much higher, which could affect the future of the acquisition.
However, the jury did not find enough evidence to support a broader claim that Musk carried out a larger scheme to defraud investors.
The exact amount of damages has not yet been decided, but lawyers representing shareholders estimate it could reach up to $ 2.5 billion. They argued that Musk’s influence and public statements directly affected investors and the market.
Musk’s legal team has pushed back against the verdict, calling it a minor setback and indicating plans to appeal the decision. They maintain that his concerns about fake accounts were genuine and not an attempt to mislead shareholders.
The lawsuit involves investors who said they sold their shares at lower prices between May and October 2022, a period when Musk’s comments were affecting market sentiment.
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Musk eventually completed the 44 billion dollar purchase of Twitter later that year and rebranded the platform as X. Despite this outcome, the case highlights ongoing legal challenges related to his public statements and business decisions.
