Elon Musk was found not guilty of fraud on Friday by a California jury in a trial over tweets he posted in 2018 claiming he would delist Tesla from the stock market.
The tweets sent the company’s share price on a roller coaster ride, and Musk was sued by shareholders who said he acted recklessly in an effort to get the most out of investors who had bet against Tesla.
Jurors quickly reached a verdict today after a three-week trial. They deliberated for two hours, before returning to the San Francisco courtroom to say they unanimously agreed that neither Musk nor Tesla’s board committed fraud with the tweets and their fallout.
“Thank God the wisdom of the people prevailed!” Musk tweeted. “I am deeply grateful for the jury’s unanimous conclusion of not guilty in the case.”
Lawyer Nicholas Porritt, who represents Glen Littleton and other investors, had said in closing arguments that, “ultimately, it’s about whether the rules that apply to everyone else should also apply to Elon Musk. He posted tweets that were false with reckless disregard for their truth.”
Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, successfully argued in court that while the tweets may have been an “ill-advised choice of words”, they were not a hoax. He also described the now Twitter owner as someone who had a troubled childhood and arrived in the United States as a poor young man in pursuit of his dreams.
– Irresponsible –
The judge in the case, Edward Chen, had already concluded that the tweets were, in fact, misleading, and that the businessman had acted irresponsibly.
Jury members had to decide whether the tweets fraudulently inflated the share price and, if so, to what extent this would have affected the plaintiffs. They also had to decide whether Tesla’s board members could be held accountable.
By answering the first few questions in the negative, they quickly exonerated Musk and Tesla.
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