Source: Channels News Asia
Court filing by Tesla investors disclosed that a federal judge ruled billionaire CEO Elon Musk’s tweets from 2018 to be false. The tweets were based on the Tesla CEO having secured funding to take the EV company private. The investors were suing the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive over the tweets from 2018.
The court filing stated that the court ruled the tweets by Musk from 2018 to be “false and misleading” on April 1. It said that the court held that he made those statements recklessly, while knowing about the ‘falsity’ of it. The court filing was submitted on Friday, April 15. In it, the investors of the EV company asked the US District Court Judge Edward Chen to act against Musk. They asked Judge Chen to to block the controversial businessman from his “public campaign” to showcase a “contradictory” and untrue narrative about his tweets from four years ago.
Musk “has used his fame and notoriety to sway public opinion in his favor, waging battle in the press having been defeated in the courtroom,” the filing said.
On Thursday, April 14, Musk claimed that the funding was actually secured in real which was meant to take Tesla Inc private that year. Previously, there was a settlement between him and the US securities regulators for what the agency considered to be ‘false statements.’ The settlement entailed paying of fines, along with the agreement that Musk would have a lawyer approving some of his tweets on the platform before finally posting them. On the other hand, the decision from April 1 was not listed on the court docket. The issues will reportedly take place somewhere in the middle of jury trial in May. In the trial, the investors are seeking damages over the tweets posted by Musk.
Moreover, the filing stated that the latest comments from Musk could risk confusing potential jurors. As a result, generating a biased opinion from the jury regarding how much of the entire damages Musk owes. On the other hand, the Tesla CEO is attempting to nullify the settlement with the US securities. Reportedly, he is doing so by accusing the agency of relentless investigations against him.
An attorney for Musk and Tesla, Alex Spiro asserted this week that Musk indeed had funding secured and was planning to take Tesla private in 2018. He stated that after almost five years, there were only a few “random plaintiffs'” attorneys attempting make money. Additionally, others attempting to block the truth coming in front, just for the “detriment of free speech.”