The jury agrees with Elon Musk in the trial for his Tesla tweets

Elon Musk leaves the court where the process for his Tesla tweets took place, on January 24. Benjamin Fanjoy (AP)

Elon Musk wins the pulse of Tesla investors.

The jury has considered this Friday that the tycoon did not violate the laws of the regulator when he tweeted in August 2018 that he considered taking the electric car manufacturer public and paying $ 420 per share, an amount that was also a nod to marijuana.

That message posted on the social network that now belongs to him caused him countless headaches, and he must have agreed to a fine of 20 million to the supervisor.

The final point in this case has come this morning in a San Francisco court with his victory in a class action lawsuit initiated by investors seeking multimillion-dollar compensation.

The nine members of the jury, who only deliberated for an hour, consider that the investors could not prove the damage that Musk, at the time the president and CEO of the company, caused them with just two words: “funding secured”.

Then, the businessman stated on the social network that his plan had the support of investors and that he was only waiting for the shareholder vote.

He also detailed in an email sent to employees what he wanted to achieve by taking the company private.

The vote did not come and the stock fell, prompting an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC.

It also cost Musk the company's presidency.

Edward Chen, the judge in the case, had already pointed out that Musk's announcement in the tweet was false and described the businessman's conduct as reckless when communicating his idea to an account followed by tens of millions of people.

This afternoon, Musk thanked the outcome in court on the social network.

“Thank God, the wisdom of the people has prevailed,” he wrote.

Thank goodness, the wisdom of the people has prevailed!

I am deeply appreciative of the jury's unanimous finding of innocence in the Tesla 420 take-private case.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2023

During the process, which lasted a little less than two weeks, Musk and his lawyers focused on verifying that the maneuver was not a hoax and that he has never had a setback raising funding rounds.

“For me it is not a problem of raising money.

I have done a good job for the investors and if you do it, they give you money, ”Musk said sitting on the bench on January 24, when he was questioned by his lawyer.

His defense produced a letter from a Goldman Sachs banker endorsing Musk's plans and showing the investment bank's willingness to back the deal.

The entrepreneur also argued that the Saudi sovereign fund, one of the partners with whom he was negotiating, was interested in being part of the purchase with an investment to get between 3% and 5% of Tesla.

Musk stated that, in addition to that, he was studying other ways to cover the amount he needed.

Among these, a sale of titles from another of his companies, SpaceX.

A member of the jury explained this Friday to the investors' lawyers that they had difficulty following the arguments presented in court.

"There was nothing that was a revelation to me... Elon Musk is someone who can sneeze and the Stock Market would react," said one of the members who gave the verdict.

Musk testified for three days.

In one of those conferences, he affirmed that the trial gave him an opportunity to explain his intentions and avoid the misunderstandings caused by his tweet, which raised a huge controversy four years ago.

“I was trying my best to keep my shareholders informed and make sure they had the same information,” Musk told the jury, made up of seven men and two women.

Alex Spiro, one of the members of the defense, assured in court that the arrangement failed because in the end "the interests of doing what was right for the shareholders" prevailed.

Initially, his legal team tried to move the case out of San Francisco, where his figure could be controversial for the San Franciscans who would make up the jury.

The lawyers wanted to take him to Texas, where the company is located today.

This task failed.

This Friday it has become clear that Musk's image, controversial as it may be, remains strong in the city that is the cradle of technology.