The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Elon Musk declares in the Tesla trial: "Just because I tweet something does not mean that people believe it"

2023-01-21T02:00:58.022Z


The owner of Twitter tries to take responsibility for the misleading message that moved the price of the automaker


Photographers and television cameras were guarding the gate of the courthouse.

This Friday was the day that Elon Musk had to testify for the famous two words (“secured financing”) of a tweet with which he insinuated that he was going to launch a takeover bid on Tesla and that moved the company's share price.

Some shareholders sued him and this Friday his statement began, which will continue on Monday.

Musk slipped away in a Tesla - of course - with tinted windows and on the stand tried to dodge the bulge: "Just because I tweet something, it doesn't mean that people believe it," he declared.

Cameras were not allowed inside the room and the image of him that has emerged is that of the usual caricature of the courts.

According to the blogs that were counting the statement almost live and what was collected by news agencies such as AP, Bloomberg and Reuters present in the room, Musk appeared in a dark suit and tie and declared for only about 25 minutes before the session adjourned. until 8:30 a.m. on Monday in San Francisco (5:30 p.m. in mainland Spain).

Musk argued that Twitter is "the most democratic way" to communicate with small investors.

He said that his tweets are information that he believes "the public should hear", but he is excused that "there is a limit" to what he can communicate with the 240 characters that a Twitter message allows, which all Twitter users they understand.

“I think you can be absolutely honest [on Twitter].

But can you be exhaustive?

Of course not, ”she defended herself.

Actually, in the famous tweet of the controversy, I barely use a quarter of the available space: “I am considering taking Tesla public at $420.

Secured financing ”, he said in that message of August 7, 2018, putting the number used to refer to marijuana as the price of the offer.

Am considering taking Tesla private at $420.

Funding secured.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018

After his first tweet, Musk insisted with others that suggested an imminent operation.

“Shareholders can sell at 420 or keep the shares [in the delisted company],” he first added.

And he returned to the charge: “The support of investors is confirmed.

The only reason it is not certain is that it depends on the shareholder vote,” he later said in another tweet.

He even sent a message to the employees explaining his plans.

Tesla's shares skyrocketed (and sank when it was found that there was no takeover bid to exclude the company from the stock market), but Musk tried this Friday at trial to unlink that movement from his tweet.

“Tesla stock goes up and down all the time,” he said at one point.

“Just because I tweet something doesn't mean people believe it or act on it,” he also argued.

He gave as an example that he once tweeted that Tesla's stock was too high, but then the price went up even higher.

“It was counterintuitive,” Musk said.

"The causal relationship is clearly not there because of a tweet."

When the plaintiffs' attorney showed him emails from Tesla investors who, prior to the controversial message, urged him to reduce or completely stop his tweeting about the company, Musk said he couldn't remember those messages from years ago. especially since you receive a “Niagara Falls” of emails.

The car in which Elon Musk was supposedly going, upon arriving at the San Francisco court where the trial for his tweets about Tesla is being held. GEORGE NIKITIN (EFE)

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has already opened an investigation into the apparent price manipulation.

Musk has reached a deal to step down as Tesla's chairman (although he remains CEO), take a $40 million fine and put future tweets about the electric car maker under scrutiny.

On the stand, he acknowledged this Friday that in 2018 his tweets were not reviewed by Tesla.

In another parallel case, Musk is now appealing that previous supervision, alleging that it violates his freedom of expression.

During his deposition, Musk told the nine-member jury that will have to decide the case that 2018 was an "extremely painful and difficult year" for Tesla and himself, adding that he was "sleeping in the factory to make things work."

Musk said: "The sheer level of pain to make Tesla successful during that period of 2017-2018 was excruciating for me and many others," he tried to justify himself.

During the questioning, Musk was also asked about short sellers, investors who take positions to benefit from falling prices.

He first joked something like “short investors?” but then he laid out his position that such short selling should be illegal, that it is an evil practice carried out by “a bunch of sharks” who want Tesla to “die very badly”.

The owner of Twitter tried unsuccessfully to have the process moved to Texas, where Tesla is now headquartered.

Musk argued that a San Francisco jury may be biased against him, especially given the layoffs that have affected half of Twitter's staff and his chaotic takeover of the social network.

The judge has already established that those tweets were false and what the jury must decide is whether Musk deliberately misled investors and whether his statements caused them losses.

The lawsuit against Musk is civil.

Investors who bought in the heat of the possible offer and sold at a loss when that perspective deflated are asking for million-dollar compensation.

Tesla has doubled its shares since 2018. That $420 would equal $28 for each of the current shares.

The company has risen much more on the stock market.

It topped $400 in 2021 and even after the 2022 crash, it now trades above $130.

Thus, those who have continued to be shareholders, whether or not they entered the heat of the false offer, have not only not lost money, but have multiplied it.

Musk managed to avoid a near-certain defeat in the lawsuit that Twitter filed against him for wanting to withdraw his offer by agreeing to honor the original agreement, but he is becoming a regular in court. In December 2019, he won a defamation lawsuit in Los Angeles .

He later also won a battle against investors who sued him over Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity.

In November, he testified in Delaware's Chancery Court in a lawsuit over his $55 billion compensation package that a shareholder is claiming to be voided for "unjust enrichment."

Source: elparis

All business articles on 2023-01-21

You may like

News/Politics 2024-01-31T04:38:57.092Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.