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The Street
The Street
Business
Tony Owusu

Lawyer Interrogating Elon Musk Has Amusing Slip of the Tongue

Elon Musk has many monikers depending on where you fall on the political spectrum, or even what company he's working for.

Musk also officially changed his title at Tesla to Technoking in documents filed with the SEC.  Some took to calling him "Space Karen" following his takeover of Twitter as a nod to the ambitions of his SpaceX rocket and satellite delivery company.  

But now the eccentric billionaire has a new, less pejorative  nickname, thanks to the opposing council during his second day of testifying at the trial over a tweet he sent in 2018.

Mr. Tweet is probably one of the nicest nicknames Musk has heard from his opponents ever since he decided to purchase Twitter (TWTR) for $44 billion earlier this year. 

This could explain why Musk was so accepting of the AKA. 

Musk has increased his public profile through his Twitter presence in recent months, wading deeply into political and cultural issues on the platform in the process. 

But Twitter has been getting Musk into trouble for years. 

The Costly Tweet

"Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." Musk tweeted on Aug. 7, 2018.

This so-called “secured funding” tweet is at the heart of the trial, which began last week in San Francisco.

According to one published report, Musk testified Friday, “I care a great deal about retail investors. … They are our most loyal steadfast investors.”

Musk said in court that Twitter is the most democratic way to communicate, according to a report from MarketWatch.

The tech entrepreneur also was quoted as saying “Just because I tweet something, it does not mean people believe it, or act accordingly.

NBC reported Nicholas Porritt, an attorney representing lead plaintiff Glen Littleton, 71, of Kansas City, Mo., as well as other Tesla shareholders, said Musk defrauded them. “His lies caused regular people like Glen Littleton to lose millions and millions of dollars,” Porritt said, adding that the tweet also hurt pension funds.

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