Twitter trial accusing Musk of driving down stock set for closing arguments
Closing arguments begin in a trial where Twitter shareholders accuse Elon Musk of misleading investors regarding his $44bn acquisition of the platform.Summary
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin in a civil trial in San Francisco, pitting Elon Musk against Twitter shareholders (now X) who allege he engaged in deceptive behavior to drive down the stock price during his attempted withdrawal from the $44 billion acquisition deal in 2022. The lawsuit centers on Musk’s claims that Twitter misrepresented the number of bot and spam accounts on its platform, using this as justification to back out of the purchase. Musk testified that Twitter had a significantly higher percentage of fake accounts than the 5 percent disclosed in regulatory filings, while former Twitter CFO Ned Segal maintained the number was closer to 1 percent. Twitter previously settled a similar claim in 2021 for $809.5 million related to overstated growth rates. The judge acknowledged potential juror bias against Musk but emphasized his right to a fair trial. Ultimately, Musk reversed course and agreed to honor the original deal, but the trial proceeds to determine if his actions caused financial harm to shareholders.
(Source：Al Jazeera)