A US judge declared Elon Musk’s tweets in 2018 in which he claimed that he had secured financing to take Tesla private were “false and misleading”.
The court said Musk’s tweets “recklessly made the statements with knowledge as to their falsity”. Tesla’s share prices had fluctuated for days after Musk’s August 7, 2018 tweet. Reports claim investors are seeking damages over the tweets.
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Musk has been accused of engaging in a “high-profile public campaign to present a contradictory and false narrative regarding his August 7, 2018 tweets”.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission had also charged Musk with fraud after the controversial tweets. Musk later stepped down as Tesla chairman as he settled with the US market regulator and agreed to pay a $20 million fine.
The latest ruling comes as Musk has been engaged in a war with Twitter over joining the board. The SpaceX chief in a tweet said,”Taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board,” while citing an online poll.
Taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Musk had announced he has over nine per cent stake in Twitter making him the second-largest shareholder after mutual fund giant Vanguard Group which owns 10.3 per cent shares.
Watch: Elon Musk’s Twitter play sparks controversies
Morgan Stanley is another heavyweight which has 8.4 per cent stake and Blackrock owns a 6.5 per cent with State Street Corp which is an investment firm owning 4.5 per cent of Twitter.
Also, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has 5.2 per cent holding in Twitter. Elon Musk had said with Jack Dorsey departing, the Twitter board collectively owned almost no shares as the microblogging site announced a “poison pill” plan to make it harder for people like Elon Musk to get a controlling stake.
(With inputs from Agencies)
