Elon Musk Shrugs Off the Magnitude of His Tweets

As he defended himself at a trial over his 2018 tweet about taking the electric car maker private, Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk downplayed how much influence his tweets have on the company’s stock price.

He said it’s impossible to establish a link between the stock price and the tweet in federal court in San Francisco on Friday. He went on to say that people shouldn’t assume he tweets about something because they believe it or will react.

Investors claim that the tweets were false and suffered significant losses as a result. Ten days before the plan’s cancellation, there were wild stock price fluctuations. When jurors examine Musk’s mental condition when he sent the tweets, they must investigate further. Determining whether the rich person’s social media messages influenced investor behavior is an additional requirement.

Elon Musk said that he is providing information the public should hear when asked by a lawyer for the investors if he needs to be accurate with his tweets. Yet, given a Twitter tweet’s maximum of 240 characters, there is only so much that can be communicated.

Let’s Take a Brief Look Inside the Court

Musk arrived at the witness stand dressed in a black suit and tie. As if acknowledging the jury, he briefly removed his mask and smiled at them.

Musk seemed to reveal a more human side during his testimony. He told the jury that 2018 was a particularly difficult and painful year.

Moreover, he repeated his claim that short-selling should be made illegal. He said short-sellers wanted Tesla to fail badly and desired the company to fall.

Elon Musk’s attorneys told the court during their opening statement on Wednesday that, even though his tweets were hurried and included technical flaws, they accurately conveyed his sincerity in going private with Tesla. Musk is anticipated to tell the court that the short-lived attempt to take Tesla privatized was viable. He bases this on talks he had with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.