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On Friday, a federal jury in San Francisco determined that Elon Musk made misleading statements about the number of spam and bot accounts on Twitter shortly after agreeing to acquire the company for $44 billion in April 2022.
Jurors found him liable for two statements, including his claim that the deal was “temporarily on hold” pending verification of bot data and his suggestion that fake accounts could exceed 20%, Reuters reported.
However, the jury also found that shareholders failed to prove a separate allegation that Musk orchestrated a scheme to defraud them.
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Damages have not yet been finalized, but plaintiffs’ attorney Francis Bottini estimated losses could reach as high as $2.5 billion, the report said.
The lawsuit represents shareholders who said they sold stock at depressed prices between May and October 2022 due to Musk’s public comments.
“Musk’s status as the world’s richest man is not a free pass,” Bottini said. “If you’re able to move markets with your tweets you’re responsible for the harm you cause to investors.”
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Musk’s legal team pushed back, arguing his concerns about bots were genuine and not fraudulent.
In a statement, his attorneys called the verdict “a bump in the road” and said they expect to prevail on appeal.
Musk ultimately completed the acquisition of Twitter in October 2022 and later rebranded it as X.
The case is one of several legal challenges he has faced related to his public statements and business dealings, including past litigation involving Tesla Inc. shareholders.
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This article Elon Musk Found Liable By Jury For Misleading Twitter Investors In $44 Billion Deal, Faces Potential $2.5 Billion Damages originally appeared on Benzinga.com