Getty Images | Bloomberg
Elon Musk began testifying at a jury trial today on whether his 2018 false tweet about Tesla going private cost investors billions of dollars.
In testimony in federal court in San Francisco, Musk denied that his tweets drove Tesla stock up or down. “Just because I tweeted something doesn’t mean people will believe it or act on it,” Nicholas Porritt, an attorney representing investors in a class action lawsuit against Musk, asked. replied Mr Musk.
“It’s hard to say that the stock price is linked to tweets,” Tesla’s CEO said on the witness stand.
Musk covered the tweet in May 2020. I have written“Tesla’s stock is too expensive.” Musk said today that Tesla’s stock had risen “counterintuitively” after the tweet.
“The stock went up from there, even though I tweeted that the stock was too expensive in my opinion,” Musk said. “If you tweeted that the stock was too high, you would think it would go down, but it actually went up.”
In fact, Tesla’s stock dropped 10% on the day Musk made that tweet, but the price rose again the following week.
“What I’m trying to say is that there’s clearly no causation just because you tweeted,” Musk said in court.
‘Securing funds’ tweet is false, judge rules
The current case primarily concerns two tweets made by Musk on August 7, 2018. first time “We are considering taking Tesla private for $420. Funding secured.” The second The tweet said, “Investor support confirmed. The only reason this isn’t certain is that it depends on the shareholder vote.”
Musk testified for less than 30 minutes today and will testify again on Monday. As such, Porritt has yet to ask Musk about specific tweets on the subject.
Judge Edward Chen has already ruled that two tweets about Tesla going private were erroneous and reckless. Before today’s testimony begins, Chen reminded jurors that they must assume the tweets are false.
But a jury will have to decide whether Musk knew they weren’t true, and whether the tweets gave rational investors an impression of Tesla’s situation that differed from reality. The lawsuit is being filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Before Musk begins his testimony today, the jury will hear two other witnesses called by the plaintiff – an investor who bought Tesla shares after Musk’s tweet and an expert witness who testified about the management takeover. Musk’s testimony began near the end of the trial day.
In an opening statement Wednesday, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, argued that Musk’s fake tweets were merely “technical inaccuracies” and irrelevant to investors. Investors’ purchase of Tesla shares was based on claims that Musk had secured the funds to take Tesla shares private at his $420 a share, according to Polritt.
“There was no dispute that Elon Musk lied, and there was no dispute that Tesla investors were hurt by these lies,” Politt said.
Musk: “You are trying to confuse misleading with short”
Today, Porritt asked Musk if he was aware that his tweets about Tesla, like press releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, comply with federal securities laws that require accuracy. I was.
“Obviously, there’s a limit to what you can say in 240 characters or less,” Musk said. “Clearly you can provide more detailed documentation. Everyone at Twitter understands that.” (Twitter’s character limit is 280 characters for him, but Musk repeatedly said in his testimony that he has 240 characters.)
“There are no exceptions to the SEC rules based on Twitter’s character limit,” Politt replied, right?
“No, but you can’t ignore character limits, and I think everyone on Twitter is aware of them.” But can it be inclusive? Of course not.”
Musk accused Porritt of asking misleading questions. “The tweet is true. It’s just short. I think you’re trying to confuse misleading with short. It’s misleading,” Musk said.
Musk also said, “I think tweets are information that the public should hear.
In response to other questions, Musk also spoke about the short sale in the context of why he wanted to keep Tesla private in 2018. He’s a small investor,” Musk said.
Short sellers “want Tesla to die,” Musk said.
