Some Tesla investors have pushed for a new trial over Elon Musk’s tweet about taking Tesla private in 2018, claiming the instructions given to the jury were flawed. However, a federal appeals court in San Francisco has expressed skepticism about the plaintiff’s interpretation of the instructions.
If Musk thought he had heard the last of the lawsuit alleging he misled investors in 2018 with his post on X (then known as Twitter) about taking Tesla private, the aggrieved Tesla investors have other plans. The plaintiffs are pushing for a new trial, asserting the instructions given to the jury by US District Judge Edward Chen were flawed because they appeared to imply the plaintiffs had to establish that Musk deliberately made false claims. The lawyers point out that the judge had held Musk’s tweets to be not true and reckless.
However, the three presiding judges of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco appear unconvinced of the plaintiff’s interpretation of the instructions. Judge Gabriel Sanchez wrote the plaintiffs’ proposed instructions were not materially different from what the judge told the jury before it reached the verdict in 2023.
Similarly, Judge Richard Clifton said the jurors had to conclude whether Musk’s false claims materially affected the investors, as they were told they could assume Musk was reckless with the tweet.
Musk reached a $40 million settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the controversial set of tweets. The CEO posted that he had secured funding from Saudis to take Tesla private at $420 per share. The post sent Tesla’s shares soaring but slumped when the deal did not materialize. Part of the settlement stipulated a Tesla lawyer must approve tweets by Musk that could affect the company’s stock.
