Elon Musk testifies in court over his Twitter acquisition

Elon Musk took the stand on Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by Twitter shareholders, who claim the billionaire engaged in securities fraud while acquiring the social‑media platform in 2022. The class‑action complaint says Musk pledged to purchase Twitter but then hesitated for months, publicly attacking the firm in an effort to depress its share price and secure a cheaper deal.

After a protracted legal battle, Musk ultimately purchased Twitter at $54.20 per share—the price he originally offered—valuing the transaction at roughly $44 billion. His counsel maintains that he never intended to depress Twitter’s market price or harm its investors.

Monday’s hearing opened with the plaintiffs’ lawyer asking Musk whether he understood that his public criticisms of Twitter could influence the stock, as reported by CNBC. Musk replied that “the stock market is like a manic depressive.”

“My tweets sometimes produce the opposite result of what one would anticipate for stock prices,” he told CNBC. “At other times they have the anticipated effect.”

Throughout 2022, Musk repeatedly told his millions of followers that the platform was plagued by bots that generated spam and fabricated accounts. He once posted that at least 20 % of Twitter’s accounts were fake or spam, and warned that the “deal cannot move forward” unless the company could disprove the claim.

The case is being heard in federal court in San Francisco before Judge Charles Breyer. During jury selection, almost half of the potential jurors were dismissed for expressing strong adverse views of Musk. Opening statements commenced on Monday.

“We are here because Elon Musk deceived investors,” plaintiff attorney Mark Molumphy said, according to Bloomberg. “The evidence will demonstrate that Mr. Musk knew exactly what he was doing.”

Musk’s attorney, Michael Lifrak, countered that the billionaire’s grievances about Twitter were genuine and that his concerns “were real and not a fraud.”

The plaintiffs contend that, over a six‑month period from April to October 2022, Musk sought to pressure the board into selling Twitter for less than his initial bid.

When Musk signaled in May 2022 that he was pulling back from the purchase and placed the acquisition “temporarily on hold,” Twitter’s shares fell sharply, at times dropping 20 %. The stock remained volatile for months thereafter. Plaintiffs say they sold their holdings at prices below $54.20 after believing Musk’s offer was collapsing.

After completing the acquisition in 2022, Musk took Twitter private and rebranded it as X. The following year he combined the company with his artificial‑intelligence venture, xAI, and subsequently folded both entities into SpaceX, his aerospace firm. Musk, whose net worth is estimated at more than $800 billion, is slated to list SpaceX on the public market later this year in what is expected to be a record‑setting IPO. Private investors have valued his conglomerate.