Elon Musk has been no stranger to controversies and lawsuits. As a matter of fact, Tesla stockholders are launching a lawsuit over his tweets dating back to 2018.
Elon Musk Sued Due to 2018 Tweet
According to the story by ABC News, official court documents reveal that the lawyers during the case have claimed that the CEO's tweets as false. These statements are regarding Musk's 2018 tweets about having "funding secured" in order for Tesla to be taken private.
The comment made by the CEO and now major shareholder of Twitter is said to be in violation of a previous court settlement with the United States securities regulators in 2018. During the settlement, both the CEO and the company had to pay a fine of $20 million.
Tesla CEO Says Company Already had Needed Funding to Take It Private
During a TED 2022 conference interview with Musk, he announced that he already had the needed funding in order to take the company "private in 2018." Musk then explained that the only reason he decided to settle is due to Tesla potentially becoming bankrupt should bankers stop providing the company with his needed capital.
Both the interview as well as the lawsuit against the CEO came shortly after Musk made an "unsolicited bid" to take Twitter private. According to Bloomberg, Musk offered $43 billion, which is 38% above its official price.
During the time of Musk's court order, TWTR shares were trading at just $45.81 with the CEO offering to pay $54.20 per share. As a result, the official board of the social media platform decided to adopt a "poison pill" strategy, attempting to make it "prohibitively expensive" for the CEO to buy shares of the social media platform.
Lawyers Say Musk is Trying to Influence Potential Jurors
Lawyers for the shareholders of Tesla alleged that the CEO is trying to "influence potential jurors in the lawsuit" as stated in the court documents filed.
The shareholders are claiming that the tweets were written in order for Musk to manipulate TESLA's stock price.
Musk Said He Would Take the Company Private 'at $420 Per Share'
The tweets, however, could be looked at as a "joke," according to the New York Post, as Elon Musk said that he would take the company private "at $420 per share." To add, lawyers are claiming that as the case is coming close to an official trial, Musk is trying to influence possible jurors.
San Francisco Judge Edward M. Chen was asked by the lawyers to restrain the CEO from making any further public comments regarding the issue "until after the trial. A deadline was given to Musk's lawyers for their team to formulate a response.
Should Elon Musk be asked to pay another $20 million fine, this would still be less than 10% of his net worth of $264.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Related Article: Elon Musk Teases Long Form Tweets, Reacts on Reason Why Twitter Should Not Be Private
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
