A San Francisco federal jury found Elon Musk liable for defrauding Twitter shareholders during his 2022 $44 billion acquisition. The verdict determined Musk falsely claimed Twitter underreported bot accounts to devalue the stock and renegotiate the deal.
Damages will be determined in a subsequent phase. Musk completed the purchase in October 2022, renaming Twitter to X before folding it into SpaceX.
The lawsuit covered investors who sold shares at artificially depressed prices between May and October 2022, citing Musk's public statements about bot prevalence.