Elon Musk Tesla

Billionaire makes surprise appearance in California court for closing arguments; jurors believe Musk was credible when he said he thought he had Saudi ...

He could have been saddled with a bill for billions of dollars in damages had the jury found him liable for the 2018 tweets that had already been deemed falsehoods by the judge presiding over the trial. He defended his initial August 2018 tweet as well-intentioned and aimed at ensuring all Tesla investors knew the automaker might be on its way to ending its run as a publicly held company. The automaker based in Austin, Texas, is now worth nearly $600 billion, despite a steep decline in its stock price last year amid concerns that Musk’s purchase of Twitter would distract him from Tesla. During their discussion with Porritt, the jurors told them they found Musk’s testimony that he believed he had lined up the money from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund without a written commitment to be credible. A few hours later, Musk sent another tweet indicating that the deal was imminent. The nine-member jury reached its verdict after less than two hours of deliberation following a three-week trial.