The case in question concerns a Twitter post where Musk claimed he had ‘secured’ sufficient funding to take Tesla private at $420 per share. This in turn caused a whirlwind in the company's share price, and Musk was promptly sued by shareholders for costing them billions of dollars with his post.
Following the post, Tesla stock trading had been halted, and shares had then remained highly volatile for weeks. The US Securities and Exchange Commission had ordered that Musk step down as chairman of the board of Tesla and pay a fine of $20 million.
Reports quoting the SpaceX CEO later said that he had been in talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and felt confident about the funding. No such deal was ever announced.
According to reports, Judge Edward Chen has already determined that Musk’s buyout tweet was false, leaving it to a jury to decide whether he acted recklessly by posting it and whether it caused financial harm to Tesla shareholders.
Incidentally, Tesla’s shares are now worth nearly six times more than at the time of Musk’s tweets (after adjusting for two stock splits made since 2018). The company's stock had been worth even more before Musk decided to buy Twitter for a price that even he conceded was far more than the company was worth. Tesla's shares are currently hovering around $120, having lost nearly half their value since he took control of Twitter.
(With inputs from agencies)
