Jury issues Musk verdict over misleading investors during Twitter purchase

WorldPolitics
21 Mar 2026 • 6:44 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • A jury has found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors and deliberately driving down Twitter's stock price before his $44 billion acquisition in 2022.
  • The verdict, delivered after three days of deliberation in a San Francisco civil trial, absolved Musk of some fraud allegations, stating he did not "scheme" to mislead investors.
  • Jurors determined Musk was liable for two specific tweets, including one claiming the Twitter deal was "temporarily on hold," which caused shareholders to sell their shares.
  • The class-action lawsuit means Musk is likely to pay billions in damages to thousands of shareholders, with awards ranging from approximately 3to3to8 per stock per day.
  • The trial extensively covered Musk's claims about the high number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter, which he initially used as a reason to attempt to withdraw from the purchase agreement.

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