Feb 4, 2023

Tweets on Tesla subject of lawsuitbyMICHAEL LIEDTKE The Associated Press|Today at 1:48 a.m. FILE - Elon Musk departs the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Sam Teller, Musk's former chief of staff, testified that the billionaire believed he had a “handshake deal" to take Tesla private in 2018 shortly before he tweeted he had the financing for an aborted buyout that is still haunting him in a high-profile trial. (AP Photo/ Benjamin Fanjoy, File) SAN FRANCISCO -- A jury Friday decided Elon Musk didn't deceive investors with his 2018 tweets about taking electric automaker Tesla private. The verdict by the nine jurors was reached after less that two hours of deliberation, after a three-week trial, and represents a major vindication for Musk. The trial pitted Tesla investors in a class-action lawsuit against Musk, who is CEO of the electric automaker and the Twitter service he bought for $44 billion last year. In 2018, Musk tweeted that he had financing to take Tesla private, even though it turned out he hadn't gotten an iron-clad commitment for an aborted deal that would have cost $20 billion to $70 billion to pull off. Musk's integrity was at stake at the trial, as well as part of a fortune that has established him as one of the world's richest people. He could have been saddled with a bill for billions of dollars in damages had the jury found him liable for the 2018 tweets, which had already been deemed falsehoods by the judge presiding over the trial. Earlier Friday, Musk sat stoically in court, while he was vilified as a rich narcissist whose reckless behavior risks "anarchy" and hailed as a visionary looking out for the "little guy" in the trial's closing arguments. The trial hinged on whether Musk's tweeting in 2018 misled Tesla shareholders, steering them in a direction that they had argued cost them billions of dollars. The civil case centered on two tweets Musk posted Aug. 7, 2018, about a Tesla buyout that never happened. The first tweet Musk declared he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private. A few hours later, Musk sent another tweet indicating that the deal was imminent. The tweets caused Twitter's stock to surge during a 10-day period covered by the lawsuit before falling back after Musk abandoned a deal in which he never had a firm financing commitment, based on evidence presented during the three-week trial. Musk's decision to show up for the closing arguments -- even though his presence wasn't required -- underscored the importance of the trial's outcome to him. Nicholas Porritt, a lawyer for the Tesla shareholders, urged the jurors to rebuke Musk for his "loose relationship with the truth." "Our society is based on rules," Porritt said. "We need rules to save us from anarchy. Rules should apply to Elon Musk like everyone else." Alex Spiro, Musk's attorney, conceded the 2018 tweets were "technically inaccurate." But he told the jurors, "Just because it's a bad tweet doesn't make it a fraud." U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, who presided over the trial, decided last year that Musk's 2018 tweets were false and instructed the jury to view them that way. During roughly eight hours on the stand earlier in the trial, Musk insisted he believed he had lined up the funds from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to take Tesla private after eight years as a publicly held company. He defended his initial August 2018 tweet as well-intentioned and aimed at ensuring all Tesla investors knew the automaker might be on its way to ending its run as a publicly held company. "I had no ill motive," Musk had testified. "My intent was to do the right thing for all shareholders." Elon Musk, right, leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A high-profile trial focused on a 2018 tweet about the financing for a Tesla buyout that never happened drew a surprise spectator for Friday's final arguments — Musk, the billionaire who is being accused of misleading investors with his usage of the Twitter service he now owns. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)  Elon Musk, right, leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A high-profile trial focused on a 2018 tweet about the financing for a Tesla buyout that never happened drew a surprise spectator for Friday's final arguments — Musk, the billionaire who is being accused of misleading investors with his usage of the Twitter service he now owns. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)  Elon Musk, middle, leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A high-profile trial focused on a 2018 tweet about the financing for a Tesla buyout that never happened drew a surprise spectator for Friday's final arguments: Elon Musk, the billionaire who is being accused of misleading investors with his usage of the Twitter service he now owns. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)  Max Weiss, an attorney for the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Elon Musk, loads a chart and equipment into a vehicle while leaving federal court in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A high-profile trial focused on a 2018 tweet about the financing for a Tesla buyout that never happened drew a surprise spectator for Friday's final arguments — Elon Musk, the billionaire who is being accused of misleading investors with his usage of the Twitter service he now owns. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)  In this courtroom sketch, Elon Musk appears in federal court in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Vicki Behringer via AP)  Elon Musk leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A high-profile trial focused on a 2018 tweet about the financing for a Tesla buyout that never happened drew a surprise spectator for Friday's final arguments — Musk, the billionaire who is being accused of misleading investors with his usage of the Twitter service he now owns. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)  In this courtroom sketch, Elon Musk, center, sits next to attorney Alex Spiro, left, in federal court in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Vicki Behringer via AP)  In this courtroom sketch, Elon Musk appears in federal court in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (Vicki Behringer via AP)  Elon Musk, center, leaves a federal courthouse in San Francisco, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A high-profile trial focused on a 2018 tweet about the financing for a Tesla buyout that never happened drew a surprise spectator for Friday's final arguments — Elon Musk, the billionaire who is being accused of misleading investors with his usage of the Twitter service he now owns. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)