Elon Musk returned to federal court Monday in San Francisco to testify in a class action lawsuit filed by Tesla investors alleging he misled them with a tweet.
In the tweet, which resulted in a $40 million settlement with securities regulators, Musk claimed he had lined up the financing to take Tesla private in a deal that never came close to happening.
The trial hinges on the question of whether a pair of tweets that Musk posted on Aug. 7, 2018, damaged Tesla shareholders during a 10-day period leading up to a Musk admission that the buyout he had envisioned wasn91裸聊视频檛 going to happen.
Musk, who said Monday he 91裸聊视频渉ad trouble sleeping last night and unfortunately I am not at my best,91裸聊视频� testified that it was important for jurors to know that he 91裸聊视频渇elt that funding was secured91裸聊视频� due to his ownership of 91裸聊视频淪paceX stock alone.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淛ust as I sold stock in Tesla to buy Twitter. 91裸聊视频� I didn91裸聊视频檛 want to sell Tesla stock but I did sell Tesla stock,91裸聊视频� he said of the stock sale to make up for the lack of funding from other sources for his $44 billion deal to take Twitter private. Musk sold nearly $23 billion worth of his car company91裸聊视频檚 shares between last April when he started building a position in Twitter, and December.
91裸聊视频淢y SpaceX shares alone would have meant that funding was secured,91裸聊视频� Musk said of the 2018 tweets.
Even before Musk took the stand on Friday, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen had declared that the jurors can consider those two tweets to be false, leaving them to decide whether Musk deliberately deceived investors and whether his statements saddled them with losses.
Musk has previously contended he entered into the SEC settlement under duress and maintained he believed he had locked up financial backing for a Tesla buyout during meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia91裸聊视频檚 Public Investment Fund.
In the first of the 2018 tweets, Musk stated 91裸聊视频渇unding secured91裸聊视频� for a what would have been a $72 billion 91裸聊视频� or $420 per share 91裸聊视频� buyout of Tesla at a time when the electric automaker was still grappling with production problems and was worth far less than it is now. Musk followed up a few hours later with another tweet suggesting a deal was imminent.
Nicholas Porritt, a lawyer representing Tesla shareholders, asked Musk if he 91裸聊视频渨ent with 420 because it was a joke your girlfriend enjoys.91裸聊视频� Musk replied he thinks there is 91裸聊视频渟ome karma91裸聊视频� around the number 420 91裸聊视频� which is also a slang reference to marijuana 91裸聊视频� although he added he doesn91裸聊视频檛 know 91裸聊视频渋f it91裸聊视频檚 good karma or bad karma at this point.91裸聊视频�
He then said the number was a 91裸聊视频渃oincidence91裸聊视频� and it represented a 20% premium of Tesla91裸聊视频檚 share price at the time.
After it became apparent that the money wasn91裸聊视频檛 in place to take Tesla private, Musk stepped down as Tesla91裸聊视频檚 chairman while remaining CEO as part of the Securities and Exchange Commission settlement, without acknowledging any wrongdoing.
91裸聊视频� Barbara Ortutay, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
