Elon Musk defeated an attempt by investors suing over his 2018 tweet about taking Tesla Inc. private to make him stay quiet about the case until it goes to trial next year.
The investors “failed to make a satisfactory showing” that an order restricting Musk’s public commentary is required or warranted, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The shareholders asked the judge to order restrictions on Musk’s commentary after he publicly complained at a TED talk that he was “unlawfully” forced to settle a 2018 US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over the same tweet that’s at the heart of the San Francisco case headed for trial in January.
The investors said the billionaire’s comments threatened to “taint” the jury that will eventually decide whether he committed fraud.US District Judge Edward Chen agreed with Musk’s argument that the comments investors found objectionable wouldn’t reach the millions of potential jurors in the case.Chen also acknowledged for the first time that he had concluded Musk’s tweet about taking Tesla private with “funding secured” was false.
The judge’s ruling on that issue remains publicly unavailable but has been cited by investors in court filings.