Musk, the richest person in the world, was accused of falsely alleging on social media that Twitter did not report how many fake and spam accounts existed on the platform.
A federal jury in the United States found on Friday Elon Musk liable in a case in which he is accused of defrauding Twitter shareholders by attempting to lower the company’s stock price so that he could renegotiate or abandon the acquisition of the social network for US$44 billion in 2022.
Musk, the richest person in the world, was accused of falsely claiming on social media that Twitter did not disclose how many fake and spam accounts, known as bots, existed on the platform.
The damages have not yet been calculated, but Francis Bottini, the shareholders’ attorney, estimated that they could total about US$2.5 billion.
‘Musk’s status as the richest man in the world is not a free pass,’ Bottini said in a statement. ‘If you are able to move markets with your tweets, you are responsible for the damages you cause to investors.’
In a joint statement, Musk’s lawyers called the verdict ‘an obstacle in the way. And we look forward to it being vindicated on appeal’.
Musk has always opted to face shareholders in court rather than settle a deal. The Twitter purchase was completed in October 2022 and the company was later renamed as X.
