Musk Denies Securities Fraud Allegations: "Tweets Unrelated to Tesla Stock Price"

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Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, denied allegations of securities fraud related to the 2018 Tesla delisting tweet incident on the 20th (local time).

During the trial held at the San Francisco court that day, Musk stated, "It is difficult to say that the (Tesla) stock price is related to the tweet," and added, "Just because I tweet about something does not mean people believe that tweet or act accordingly." Musk is expected to appear in court again on the 30th of this month to provide additional testimony on the disputed matters.

The trial regarding Musk's securities fraud allegations began with a tweet Musk posted on August 7, 2018. At that time, Musk tweeted, "Considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share. Funding secured." However, Musk later canceled the plan to take Tesla private, citing failure to secure funding.

The tweet incident caused Tesla's stock price to fluctuate sharply. Some Tesla shareholders filed a class-action lawsuit demanding compensation, claiming Musk committed securities fraud. Musk argues that he genuinely considered taking the company private and believed securing funding was possible. He maintains that although he had a funding commitment from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, the deal fell through, resulting in the delisting plan's failure, and that he did not intentionally deceive shareholders.