AI & Technology Law: Jury finds Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter purchase

## Summary
Markus Schreiber/AP hide caption toggle caption Markus Schreiber/AP SAN FRANCISCO — A jury has found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors by deliberately driving down Twitter's stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion. Business EU hits Elon Musk's X with $140 million fine over business practices The civil trial in San Francisco centered on a class-action lawsuit filed just before Musk took control of Twitter, which he later renamed X. Technology Twitter reaches deal to sell to Elon Musk for about $44 billion The nine-person jury returned the verdict after nearly four days of deliberation, nearly three weeks after the trial began on March 2. Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle/AP hide caption toggle caption Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle/AP The central question of the case was whether Musk sent out tweets — including one on May 13, 2022, that said the Twitter deal was "temporarily on hold" while he sought information on the number of fake accounts on the service — as a deliberate scheme to tank Twitter's shares.

## Article Content Business Jury finds Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter purchase Updated March 20, 2026 6:55 PM ET Originally published March 20, 2026 6:30 PM ET By The Associated Press Elon Musk attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22. Markus Schreiber/AP hide caption toggle caption Markus Schreiber/AP SAN FRANCISCO — A jury has found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors by deliberately driving down Twitter's stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion. But it absolved him of some fraud allegations, finding that he did not "scheme" to mislead investors. Business EU hits Elon Musk's X with $140 million fine over business practices The civil trial in San Francisco centered on a class-action lawsuit filed just before Musk took control of Twitter, which he later renamed X. Jurors were asked to decide if two tweets and comments Musk made on a podcast in May 2022 amounted to him intentionally defrauding Twitter shareholders, who sold their shares based on Musk's statements. Technology Twitter reaches deal to sell to Elon Musk for about $44 billion The nine-person jury returned the verdict after nearly four days of deliberation, nearly three weeks after the trial began on March 2. They said that while Musk was liable for misleading investors with two tweets — including one said the Twitter deal was "temporarily on hold," he did not do so with a statement he made on a podcast and that he did not intentionally "scheme" to defraud investors. The jury awarded shareholders between about $3 and $8 per stock per day as damages, which the plaintiffs' lawyers said amounts to about $2.1 billion. Musk's fortune is currently estimated at about $814 billion, much of

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Musk's fortune is currently estimated at about $814 billion, much of it tied up in Tesla shares. "It's an important victory, not just for investors of Twitter, but for the public markets," said Joseph Cotchett, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "I think the jury's verdict sends a strong message that just because you're a rich and powerful person, you still have to obey the law, and no man is above the law." Musk's lawyers said they had no comment as they walked out of the courtroom.

### Areas for Consideration
N/A ### Implications
- Jurors were asked to decide if two tweets and comments Musk made on a podcast in May 2022 amounted to him intentionally defrauding Twitter shareholders, who sold their shares based on Musk's statements.
- Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle/AP hide caption toggle caption Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle/AP The central question of the case was whether Musk sent out tweets — including one on May 13, 2022, that said the Twitter deal was "temporarily on hold" while he sought information on the number of fake accounts on the service — as a deliberate scheme to tank Twitter's shares.
- The plaintiffs argued that, as Tesla's stock price declined and buying Twitter became too expensive for Musk, he tweeted statements that drove down the stock price in the hopes he could renegotiate the deal for a lower price or get out of it altogether.
- In closing arguments, Mark Molumphy, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, asked jurors to hold Musk accountable and compensate thousands of investors who lost money because of tweets Musk sent, including one from May 13, 2022, that said the deal was "on hold." "He knew what he was doing," Molumphy said. ### Expert Commentary
This article covers musk, twitter, investors topics. Notable strengths include discussion of musk. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1052.