Key takeaways:
- Elon Musk took the stand in a California court room to testify in a lawsuit over his 2018 tweet claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private.
- The tweet caused Tesla’s stock to initially climb 11%, but the deal never came close to happening and Musk was forced to pay millions of dollars in fines and legal fees.
- The lawsuit is being brought by shareholders who allege that Musk’s tweet was misleading and caused them to suffer financial losses, and the trial is expected to last several weeks.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the stand in a California court room on Friday to testify in a lawsuit over his 2018 tweet claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private.
The tweet, which said he was considering taking the company private at $420 a share, caused Tesla’s stock to initially climb 11%. However, the deal never came close to happening and Musk was forced to pay millions of dollars in fines and legal fees.
Musk’s lawyer unsuccessfully attempted to move the trial to Texas, where Tesla is now headquartered, citing media coverage of Musk’s tumultuous takeover of Twitter as a reason to taint the jury pool.
The lawsuit is being brought by shareholders who allege that Musk’s tweet was misleading and caused them to suffer financial losses. Musk’s lawyers have argued that the tweet was a joke and that the market understood it as such.
The trial is expected to last several weeks and the outcome could have serious implications for Musk and Tesla. The company’s stock price has been volatile since the tweet and investors will be watching the trial closely.
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