Elon Musk Misled Twitter Investors While Trying To Get Out Of Acquisition, Jury Says
Lloyd
Elon Musk Misled Twitter Investors While Trying To Get Out Of Acquisition, Jury Says
A California jury has ruled that Elon Musk deliberately misled Twitter investors during his chaotic attempt to back out of his $44 billion acquisition deal in 2022. The verdict, delivered on Friday March 20, 2026, marks one of the most consequential legal outcomes tied to a billionaire's social media activity in recent memory. Damages in the case could reach as high as $2.6 billion. What the Jury Decided and Why It Matters The civil jury found that Musk acted with intent when he posted a tweet on May 13, 2022, suggesting he was putting the Twitter acquisition "temporarily on hold." His stated reason was concern that spam and fake accounts made up more than 5 percent of Twitter's user base, a threshold that mattered under the terms of his deal. But the jury did not buy the explanation. Jurors sided with the plaintiff's argument that Musk's tweet was not a good-faith expression of concern. Instead, they concluded it was a calculated move designed to create uncerta…
