On Friday, a jury in California found that Elon Musk had misled investors in Twitter with public remarks that depressed the company’s stock price before Musk completed his purchase of the service. Because the case was a class action, Musk could be liable for damages to a wide group of investors—potentially amounting to billions of dollars.
In the period leading up to Musk’s eventual acquisition of the social network, he made several statements on the platform and during a podcast appearance, largely alleging a high number of bot accounts on the site. Those comments sparked concern the deal might collapse and pushed Twitter’s share price down, leading some investors to sell at reduced prices.
Many of those investors filed a lawsuit that was certified as a class action, alleging the statements defrauded them and were made deliberately as part of a broader plan. The jury dismissed claims about a wider scheme but held Musk responsible for the tweets.
Although damages have not yet been set, the plaintiffs’ lawyers say they could ultimately reach as high as $2.6 billion.
