SAN FRANCISCO — A jury in the U.S. state of California has ruled that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk misled shareholders of Twitter during the period leading up to his takeover of the social media platform in a deal valued at $44 billion.
According to CNBC, lawyers representing the plaintiffs say the total compensation in the case could reach as much as $2.6 billion.
The class action lawsuit, known as Bambina v. Musk, was originally filed in October 2022 after Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter at $54.20 per share. He later rebranded the company as X before integrating it with his artificial intelligence venture xAI and subsequently with the aerospace firm SpaceX, known for developing reusable rockets.
Speaking in federal court in San Francisco, lawyers for Twitter investors argued that the case represents a broader issue about market fairness.
“This is a striking example of what cannot be done to ordinary investors — retirement savers, children’s funds, pension funds, teachers, firefighters, and nurses,” attorneys told CNBC. “That is the heart of the case. It was never only about Musk, but about the entire process.”
After Musk announced his intention to acquire Twitter in April 2022, his stance on the transaction quickly shifted. He publicly questioned the company’s claims regarding the level of fake and spam accounts on the platform.
In a tweet the following month, Musk said the acquisition was “temporarily on hold” pending proof from Twitter’s leadership that the proportion of suspicious accounts was close to the roughly 5% disclosed in filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The remarks triggered significant market reactions. Musk’s tweets and subsequent public comments contributed to a roughly 10% drop in Twitter’s stock in a single trading session. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that they sold shares below the $54.20 offer price after Musk’s statements and media interviews.
The verdict underscores growing scrutiny of how influential executives’ public statements—especially on social media—can affect financial markets and investor decisions.
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