Elon Musk found liable for misleading claims about Twitter bots in shareholder fraud case A U.S. federal jury ruled on Friday that Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, defrauded Twitter shareholders by making false statements about the number of fake accounts on the platform, which he claimed could derail a $44 billion takeover in 2022. The verdict, delivered in a San Francisco federal court, found Musk liable for two specific statements he made after agreeing to acquire Twitter, which he later renamed X. Shareholders’ lawyers estimate the damages could reach billions of dollars, though the exact amount has not yet been determined. The case centered on Musk’s claims that Twitter underreported the number of bot accounts on its platform. Jurors determined that Musk’s statements, which suggested the company’s bot count could jeopardize the takeover, were misleading. One statement claimed the purchase was “temporarily on hold” pending verification that bots represented less than 5% of users. Another asserted that the bot percentage could be “much” higher than 20%, and the deal could not proceed unless Twitter’s CEO proved the figure was below 5%. Musk’s legal team, represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, called the verdict “a bump in the road” and announced plans to appeal. They argued that Musk’s concerns about bots were genuine and that expressing such views did not constitute fraud. Michael Lifrak, one of Musk’s attorneys, emphasized that the billionaire’s actions were based on legitimate worries about the platform’s integrity. The lawsuit, brought by shareholders who sold Twitter shares between May 13 and October 4, 2022, alleges that Musk artificially depressed the stock price by spreading false information.#securities_and_exchange_commission #elon_musk #x #twitter #quinn_emmanuel_urquhart_sullivan
