A jury in San Francisco has decided Elon Musk intentionally misled investors. This happened during his purchase of Twitter. The jury took two days to reach their decision. They found Musk responsible for statements that lowered Twitter's stock price. These statements also did not show his real plan to buy the company for $44 billion.
Investors started this legal fight. Brian Belgrave, a small business owner, was one of them. Their case focused on Musk's public words from May to October 2022. Investors said they made important money choices based on his statements. Later, they lost money because Musk's plans and Twitter's situation were different from what he said. Musk had said his comments were misunderstood. He claimed he did not mean to mislead people.
The jury believed Musk's public words hid information. This information was about Twitter's users and his true plan to buy the company. The trial showed that these misleading statements hurt the stock's value. The jury decided the stock price dropped by about $3 to $8 per share because of this. This shows the jury thinks Musk has a big effect on the market.
This jury decision has important results. Investors in the group lawsuit might get a lot of money. Each person could receive thousands of dollars. This money will help them with their losses. The ruling also reminds everyone about the importance of honest statements. This is especially true for famous people with many followers.
This is not the first time Musk has faced legal issues for his online comments. However, this case is different. He previously won a case about his tweets from Tesla shareholders. The important difference here is the jury found he intentionally misled people. This is a higher legal bar. The decision against Musk shows his statements about Twitter were not just bad advice. They were a planned action with real money consequences.