A California jury has determined that Elon Musk intentionally misled Twitter investors as he sought to exit his $44 billion purchase of the social media platform in 2022. Musk’s attempt to withdraw from the deal was famously fueled by his public statements questioning the number of bot accounts on Twitter. These concerns were articulated shortly before he tried to back out of the acquisition, leading to a lawsuit from Twitter itself to compel the sale. The jury’s decision sided against Musk’s claims of genuine uncertainty.

The pivotal moment occurred when Musk tweeted that the Twitter acquisition was temporarily on hold, pending verification of the platform’s user data regarding spam and fake accounts. He specifically stated that details were needed to confirm these accounts represented less than five percent of users. This statement, made on May 13, 2022, had an immediate impact, causing Twitter’s stock price to drop by eight percent in the subsequent days. This decline created a period of financial uncertainty for shareholders.

A lawsuit was subsequently filed by investor Giuseppe Pampena on behalf of other former Twitter shareholders who had sold their stock between the date of Musk’s tweet and October 4, 2022, when the deal was ultimately finalized. The plaintiffs argued that Musk’s public pronouncements were a calculated strategy to create doubt about Twitter’s stability and artificially depress its stock value. This alleged manipulation aimed to allow Musk to escape the acquisition at a lower price, consequently harming those who sold shares during this volatile period.

Attorneys representing Elon Musk contended that his tweets reflected legitimate concerns about the prevalence of bots on the platform and were not intended to manipulate the market. However, the jury found the plaintiffs’ argument more persuasive, concluding that Musk’s actions were indeed misleading. While the exact financial restitution remains undecided, the plaintiff’s legal team indicated that damages could potentially reach as high as $2.6 billion, according to reports.

This legal outcome adds another chapter to Musk’s history with controversial public statements made via Twitter. It follows a 2018 incident where the SEC charged him with securities fraud for tweets about securing funding to take Tesla private. That case also involved allegations of misleading investors through public communications, highlighting a recurring theme in his interactions with public markets and regulatory bodies.