Elon Musk takes stand in Tesla tweet fraud trial
TimesNowJan 20, 2023
The Facts
Elon Musk returned to federal court on Monday to testify in a trial over a 2018 tweet, in which the Tesla CEO claimed to have "funding secured” to take the company private.
Musk and Tesla are facing a shareholder lawsuit over the tweet, which saw Musk state that he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 a share.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Elon Musk's tweets were fraudulent in nature — he intentionally posted untrue information in an attempt to squeeze investors who had bet against the company. Musk acted and continues to act recklessly and needs to be held accountable for his actions, especially in this case as his irresponsibility lost investors their money.
Establishment-critical narrative
Musk's tweet was not fraudulent — he had no ill intent and simply wanted to inform shareholders of his plans at the time. Musk knew he could use his own wealth and involvement in SpaceX to take Tesla private if he needed to. Musk does not deserve to be penalized just because the deal didn't go through.
Nerd narrative
There is a 28% chance that Tesla will become the largest car company in the world (by sales) before 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
