Lawsuits

Musk Testifies in Twitter Stock Manipulation Lawsuit

Did Musk manipulate Twitter's stock to escape his deal or were his bot concerns legitimate and transparent?

MAR 4·Updated MAR 5

Musk Testifies in Twitter Stock Manipulation Lawsuit

Story

Above: Elon Musk arrives at federal court in San Francisco, California, on March 4, 2026. Image credit: Josh Edelson/Getty Images

The Facts

Elon Musk testified Wednesday in a San Francisco federal trial where Twitter shareholders accuse him of making false statements that drove down the company's stock price before his $44 billion purchase in 2022. The lawsuit, which is seeking up to $1 billion in damages, claims Musk violated federal securities laws.
CBS News
Austin American
Financial Post
San Francisco Gazetteer
Musk announced on May 13, 2022, that the Twitter deal was temporarily on hold pending verification of spam and fake account numbers, causing Twitter's stock to fall approximately 10%. The stock later fell to $36.81 by July 8, 32% below Musk's offer price of $54.20 per share.
Elon Musk on X
CNBC
Mandatory
Investors allege Musk's May 13 tweet was false because Twitter did not agree to pause the deal and the merger agreement contained no provision allowing Musk to put it on hold. The lawsuit, which Musk denies, claims Musk made these statements to renegotiate a lower price or delay the merger.
Courthouse News Service
Financial Post
On the stand, Musk told jurors he never intended to cancel the deal. “At no point did I say the deal was canceled,” he said, arguing his post was different from walking away. He acknowledged it “may not be my wisest tweet,” but denied trying to harm shareholders or manipulate the stock.
Yahoo Finance
Sfchronicle
Musk said he tweets “what’s on my mind and the market decides if it’s material,” describing markets as “manic depressive.” He testified he was “stunned” by Twitter’s bot data, saying many of his own replies were spam, and insisted his concerns were genuine, not a scheme.
Yahoo Finance
Sfchronicle
After Twitter sued to force completion of the deal, Musk offered on Oct. 4, 2022, to proceed with his original $44 billion proposal, which Twitter accepted. In 2023, a San Francisco jury absolved Musk of wrongdoing in a separate case involving Tesla-related tweets. The trial is scheduled to run two to three weeks before the jury begins deliberations.
Bloomberg
The Associated Press
Billionaires Africa

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

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PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Musk deliberately manipulated Twitter's stock price through false statements about bot accounts to escape or renegotiate his $44 billion acquisition deal after Tesla stock sales went badly. His May 13 tweet claiming the deal was "on hold" crashed Twitter's stock 9% despite having no contractual right to pause the agreement, and his baseless claim that bots comprised 20% of users was designed to trash the company and pressure renegotiation.

Courthouse News Service

San Francisco Gazetteer

Narrative B

Musk's concerns about bot accounts were legitimate and longstanding, not fraudulent manipulation designed to lower Twitter's stock price. Twitter's refusal to provide transparent information about their bot calculation methods — reviewing just 100 accounts daily — raised red flags that justified Musk's public questions. His tweets provided shareholders with necessary transparency about deal uncertainties rather than constituting market manipulation.

Yahoo Finance

Elon Musk on X

Kim Dotcom on X