Elon Musk misled investors in £33bn battle for Twitter
Elon Musk defrauded investors in Twitter by talking down the company as he tried to renegotiate his £33 billion offer to buy it in 2022, a US court has ruled.A California jury backed a group of investors who argued that Musk had made 'misleading statements' during his takeover of the social media giant – now known as X.The claim centred around a series of posts he made on Twitter in April 2022 during the process when he said his offer for the firm had been put 'temporarily on hold' and that the takeover 'cannot move forward' until the website's bosses provided proof that less than 5 per cent of its users were 'fake'. The tirade prompted Twitter's share price at the time to dive to around $30 from the deal price of $54.20. Ruling: Elon Musk defrauded investors in Twitter by talking down the company as he tried to renegotiate his £33 billion offer to buy it in 2022In a class action lawsuit, the investors claimed they had sold their shares at the lower price and had thus lost out when the deal finally closed later that year. They also argued that as Musk had signed a binding agreement to buy Twitter, his statement that the takeover was 'on hold' was false because the firm had not agreed to defer the deal.The verdict means Musk may be forced to pay substantial damages to the investors that could be worth billions. The final amount is due to be determined at a later date.DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you
Share or comment on this article:
Elon Musk misled investors in £33bn battle for Twitter
