FILE PHOTO: Tesla founder Elon Musk attends Offshore Northern Seas 2022 in Stavanger, Norway August 29, 2022.FILE PHOTO: Tesla founder Elon Musk attends Offshore Northern Seas 2022 in Stavanger, Norway August 29, 2022.
Musk is defending against claims he defrauded investors by tweeting on August 7, 2018, that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that “investor support is confirmed.” Musk said he had already discussed his interest with the Tesla board and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, and he feared it would leak to the media.He has testified that he chose not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process.The trial tests whether the world’s second-richest person can be held liable for his sometimes rash use of Twitter.
A jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company’s share price by touting the buyout’s prospects, and if so by how much.On Monday, Musk said he could have financed the deal by selling his stake in SpaceX, the aerospace company where he is also chief executive officer.