A United States jury has found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors during his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, though it stopped short of concluding he orchestrated a broader fraud scheme.
The verdict, delivered in San Francisco, followed a civil class-action lawsuit filed by Twitter shareholders over Musk’s conduct in 2022. Jurors determined that two of his public statements — including a tweet that the deal was “temporarily on hold” — misled investors and affected the company’s stock price.
However, the jury ruled that Musk did not intentionally “scheme” to defraud investors, clearing him of more serious fraud allegations tied to the case.
The case focused on claims that Musk’s remarks about spam and fake accounts on the platform created uncertainty, prompting some shareholders to sell their stocks at lower prices during the acquisition process.
Jurors found that while Musk’s statements had a measurable impact on market value, not all of his comments — including remarks made during a podcast — were misleading.
Damages have not been fully finalised but could run into billions of dollars, with estimates suggesting payouts tied to investor losses during the period in question.
Musk, who completed the acquisition of Twitter (now rebranded as X) in October 2022, has denied wrongdoing, and his legal team is expected to appeal the ruling.
