Mr Musk on May 25 pledged an additional US$6.25 billion in equity financing to fund his bid for Twitter.NEW YORK — Billionaire Elon Musk was sued by Twitter investors claiming he manipulated the company's stock price downward, as the chief executive of electric carmaker Tesla mounts a US$44 billion takeover bid for the social media platform.
The investors said Mr Musk continued to buy stock after that, and ultimately disclosed in early April that he owned 9.2 per cent of the company, according to the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court. The investors said the recent drop in Tesla's stock has put Mr Musk's ability to finance his acquisition of Twitter in "major peril" since he has pledged his shares as collateral to secure the loans he needs to buy the company.