A San Francisco jury found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors during his 2022 purchase of Twitter, now called X. However, the jury rejected claims that he was behind a larger fraud scheme.
This verdict ends a closely watched civil trial about whether Musk’s public comments and tweets unfairly lowered Twitter’s stock price before he finished the $44 billion deal.
Jury sides with investors on some claims, not all
According to the Associated Press, jurors found Musk liable for misleading investors by deliberately driving down Twitter’s stock price before the acquisition. However, they absolved him of some fraud allegations, deciding he did not scheme to mislead investors.
NBC News also described the outcome as a mixed verdict, with jurors saying Musk misled investors but clearing him of some fraud claims.
The case focused on Musk’s statements from May 2022, including tweets where he said the Twitter deal was temporarily on hold as he questioned the company’s estimates of fake and spam accounts.
Shareholders argued these statements were deceptive and caused Twitter’s stock to drop, hurting investors who sold during the uncertainty. Jurors agreed that two of Musk’s tweets were misleading, but decided his podcast comments were just opinions, not fraud.
Trial focused on stock-price damage during Musk’s takeover fight
Shareholders filed the lawsuit, accusing Musk of trying to lower Twitter’s value so he could renegotiate or back out of the deal.
Investors said Musk’s public criticism of Twitter’s bot problem was meant to pressure the company after he had already agreed to buy it for $54.20 per share.
This idea became a key question in the trial: Was Musk just sharing concerns about fake accounts, or was he using his large public platform to influence the market?
The jury found that he did mislead investors, but not in a way that was part of an intentional fraud scheme.
Damages could reach into the billions
The verdict could have a big financial impact. The jury awarded shareholders about $2.6 billion in damages.
Other reports said this amount reflects the losses of investors who sold their shares when Twitter’s stock price dropped during the uncertainty caused by Musk’s comments.
NBC News described the outcome as a partial win for both sides, showing how unusual the verdict was. Musk was found responsible for misleading investors, but not for a larger, deliberate fraud plot.
This matters because it limits some of the plaintiffs’ claims, but Musk still faces a large damages amount and more attention on how powerful executives use social media to affect markets.
Musk is expected to challenge the outcome
Musk’s legal team rejected the verdict and plans to appeal. This case adds to a growing list of legal and regulatory battles over Musk’s public statements, especially when courts or regulators think his posts can affect market prices right away.
The ruling does not reverse Musk’s purchase of Twitter, but it sends a clear message about the risks of market-moving statements from such a high-profile executive. For shareholders, the jury found that Musk’s words had real financial effects. For Musk, the verdict clears him of some fraud claims, but not of misleading investors during his takeover of Twitter.
