Elon Musk claimed there, in 2018, to have sufficient funding to take Tesla out of the stock market.
The tweet in which Elon Musk claimed in 2018 that he had sufficient funding to take Tesla out of the stock market was considered “false and misleadingby a judge, according to a document filed by investors who filed a complaint against the group.
Read alsoElon Musk attacks Twitter and offers to buy the social network for 43 billion dollars
These investors filed a lawsuit against the electric car maker and Elon Musk, accusing them of losing money after the publication of this tweet which caused the stock to falter for a few days. They claim in the document filed on Friday and consulted on Saturday by AFP that the judge in charge of the case order Elon Musk to stop publicly affirming that he had “secure fundingto withdraw the group from the stock market at 420 dollars per share, as it did again during a conference on Thursday.
Elon Musk has assured in the past that he was at the time in discussions with the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia and that he was confident of the outcome of these negotiations. But no deal was ever announced.
“False and Misleading Claims”
According to the document filed by the investors, the judge recently concluded, in an undisclosed partial decision, that “these claims by Musk were false and misleading and that Musk made these false statements recklessly and with full knowledge of the facts which he misrepresented in his tweets“. The plaintiffs believe that Musk engaged in a public campaign “to present a contradictory and false versionof the tweet in question, which could sway jurors in a trial set to take place in May.
Read alsoTwitter adopts plan to prevent creeping Elon Musk takeover
The American stock market policeman, believing that Elon Musk had not provided proof of his financing, had also filed a complaint at the time. The regulator then forced him to hand over the chairmanship of Tesla’s board of directors, pay a $20 million fine and later demanded that his tweets directly related to Tesla’s activity be pre-approved by a lawyer. competent. Elon Musk, who is currently looking to buy Twitter, challenged the latest move in court in early March.