Elon Musk testifies in Twitter shareholder trial over actions before purchase
📌 Key Takeaways
- **Elon Musk testified in a trial** brought by Twitter shareholders who allege he manipulated the company's stock price in 2022 by not promptly disclosing his growing stake in Twitter, which they claim saved him money but cost them potential gains.
- **The lawsuit centers on the timing of Musk's disclosures**; shareholders argue he missed a regulatory deadline to reveal when his stake surpassed 5%, allowing him to continue buying shares at lower prices before the market reacted to his involvement.
- **Musk's defense contends the delay was not intentional**, with his legal team suggesting administrative oversight or a belief that he did not need to file until his stake reached a higher threshold, framing it as a good-faith mistake rather than market manipulation.
- **The trial's outcome could have financial repercussions for Musk**, as shareholders are seeking potentially significant damages if the court finds he violated securities laws, though no specific penalty amount has been detailed in the report.
- **This case is separate from Musk's eventual acquisition of Twitter** (now X), focusing solely on the pre-purchase stock trading period, highlighting ongoing legal scrutiny of his actions surrounding the deal.
📖 Full Retelling
Elon Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter in April 2022. On May 13, 2022, he declared his plan "temporarily on hold" over the number of spam and fake accounts on the platform. Twitter's stock tumbled as a result.
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Original Source
U.S. Elon Musk testifies in Twitter shareholder trial alleging he purposefully drove down stock before his purchase March 4, 2026 / 6:44 PM EST / AP Add CBS News on Google Elon Musk took the stand in a shareholder trial on Wednesday in San Francisco, where he's accused of making false and misleading statements that drove down Twitter's stock price before he bought the social media platform for $44 billion in 2022. The lawsuit was filed in October 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Twitter shareholders who sold the stock between May 13 and Oct. 4, 2022, a few weeks before Musk's purchase of Twitter was finalized. It claims Musk violated federal securities laws by making false, public statements that "were carefully calculated to drive down the price of Twitter stock." The billionaire Tesla CEO reached a deal to buy Twitter and take it private in April 2022. On May 13, however, he declared his plan "temporarily on hold" and said he needs to pinpoint the number of spam and fake accounts on the platform. Twitter's stock tumbled as a result. A few days later, he tweeted that the deal "cannot go forward" and claimed that almost 20% of Twitter accounts were "fake," according to the lawsuit. The plaintiff's lawyer, Aaron P. Arnzen, began with questioning Musk about his tweets — or lack of tweets — about his decision to buy Twitter and his purchases of Twitter stock prior to deciding to take the company private. Wearing a black suit and tie, Musk said he didn't think it was "material" when, in early 2022, he began amassing Twitter stock and did not tweet about it or disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission . He said he's bought stock in "many companies" and did not post about it. Once he did, Twitter's stock jumped 27% in one day. "That sounds high," Musk said. Musk's May 13 tweet — "Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of us...
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