Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Business

Musk faces US fraud trial over Tesla tweet

Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car giant Tesla, will face trial over allegedly manipulating the stock market with a tweet.

Documents filed with the SEC show that Elon Musk is now Twitter's sole director after the company's board was dissolved
Documents filed with the SEC show that Elon Musk is now Twitter's sole director after the company's board was dissolved - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL
Documents filed with the SEC show that Elon Musk is now Twitter's sole director after the company's board was dissolved - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL

Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car giant Tesla, will face trial on Tuesday over allegedly manipulating the stock market with a tweet after a federal judge rejected his request to move the case out of California.

The case dates back to August 2018 when Musk tweeted that he had sufficient funding to take Tesla private, causing a whirlwind in the company’s share price.

Musk was swiftly sued by shareholders for allegedly costing them billions of dollars with the Twitter post that said funding was “secured” to buy out the company’s shareholders.

According to a spokesperson for the court, Judge Edward Chen on Friday refused to transfer the proceedings to Texas, the southern state where Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters and jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

Defense lawyers had argued that the multibillionaire would be denied a fair trial in San Francisco, where he bought Twitter in late October and has been widely criticized for his decisions since taking over the social media firm.

After taking over Twitter, Musk fired more than half of the 7,500 employees, most in San Francisco, and radically changed the site’s content moderation policies.

“For the last several months, the local media have saturated this district with biased and negative stories about Mr. Musk that have fostered… highly prejudicial biases in the jury pool,” the CEO’s lawyers argued in a filing.

“The local media, in a deviation from how they typically cover these stories, have blamed Mr. Musk personally for the reductions and even accused him of violating the law,” the lawyers said.

Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car giant Tesla, will face trial over allegedly manipulating the stock market with a tweet after a federal judge rejected his request to move the case out of California

Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car giant Tesla, will face trial over allegedly manipulating the stock market with a tweet after a federal judge rejected his request to move the case out of California – Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Michael M. Santiago

According to Bloomberg, Judge Chen expressed confidence at the hearing that impartial jurors could be chosen.

Musk’s short tweet in 2018 has already attracted the attention of authorities.

The US stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, ordered that Musk step down as chairman of the board of Tesla and pay a fine of $20 million.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

Entertainment

Rising country recording artist Vincent Mason chatted about his new music, which includes his single "Speak of the Devil."

Entertainment

On Monday, November 11th, the 32nd Oscar Hammerstein Awards GALA took place at The Edison Ballroom in New York City.

Business

The euro hit a one-year low and the pound fell against the dollar.

Business

New UN rules would give local communities more power to object to carbon credit projects - Copyright AFP/File Juan Pablo PinoThe creation of a...