As Twitter investors scrutinize Elon Musk’s takeover bid, Tesla shareholders suing him over a different matter have asked a judge to block Musk from commenting on their case.
Tesla shareholders filed a fraud lawsuit against Musk in 2018 after he posted 218 tweets about the company’s privatization, which he didn’t do.
A federal judge ruled last week that Musk’s claims that he secured funding to take Tesla private were false and misleading. The judge also found that Musk had provided false information ruthlessly and fully aware of the facts that he expressed himself wrongly.
Musk’s behavior in the Tesla case is particularly relevant now that he’s trying to buy Twitter, which he’s promoted as a way to boost free speech. Twitter declined his hostile offer, but Musk hinted over the weekend that it’s not over yet.
Despite the judge’s verdict in the Tesla case, Musk reiterated the exact same claim at last week’s TED 2022 conference in Vancouver, Canada — that he secured funding to take the automaker private.
“So I was forced to illegally give in to the SEC,” he said of regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Reuters. “Those bastards.”
“I had to admit that I lied to save Tesla’s life and that’s the only reason,” Musk added.
Following Musk’s TED comments, Tesla shareholders called on US District Judge Edward Chen to stop Musk’s “public campaign presenting a contradictory and false narrative” about his 2018 tweets.
Musk and Tesla each paid $20 million in fines after the Tesla tweets, and Musk resigned as Tesla’s chairman to settle SEC claims that he defrauded investors with his fake news.
Musk “didn’t really have any plans” when he tried to take Tesla private, New York Times columnist James Stewart said on CNBC last week. “It was all just something [Musk] done on impulse.”
Referring to Musk’s Twitter offer, Stewart asked, “Are we dealing with a situation like this again?”