Musk Slams Twitter Verdict, Calls Jury’s $4.20 ‘Joke’ a Mockery

Musk Slams Twitter Verdict, Calls Jury’s $4.20 ‘Joke’ a Mockery​

A jury found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors in 2022 when he tweeted concerns about fake accounts on Twitter—now known as X—and subsequently attempted to withdraw his $44 billion offer to acquire the company.

Elon Musk’s legal team argues the billionaire did not receive a fair trial, citing a “bizarre and highly questionable” joke incorporated into the jury’s verdict form. Attorney Alex Spiro penned a letter to the presiding judge, highlighting the jury’s calculation of the impact of Musk’s tweets on Twitter stock and the emphasis placed on the number $4.20, which is culturally associated with marijuana use.

The jury’s verdict, delivered Friday, determined that Musk misled investors with two tweets posted in May 2022 expressing concerns about the prevalence of fake accounts on the platform. The panel rejected a claim that a third Musk statement violated federal securities law and an allegation that Musk engaged in a broader scheme to defraud investors.

Spiro described the verdict as a “mockery of justice” and stated the jury “used its verdict to mock Mr. Musk and the process.” He claimed the emphasis on $4.20 was a “numerical joke” with no relevance to the damage determination.

In response, lawyers representing the investors who sued Musk urged US District Judge Charles Breyer to dismiss Spiro’s letter as improper, arguing it “does not even seek any particular form of relief.”

The eight-person jury found Musk liable to Twitter investors for misleading them with the two tweets. The investors who sued claimed Musk acted intentionally and they lost money when the shares fell. Musk’s legal team has vowed to appeal the verdict.

The case stemmed from Musk’s tweets in May 2022. Jurors rejected a claim that a third Musk statement violated federal securities law as well as an allegation that the billionaire waged a broader scheme to defraud investors.

Musk’s rare court defeat could cost him billions of dollars. The amount of damages Musk must pay to individual investors will be determined at a later date when shareholders submit claims. An attorney for the investors estimates the final tab could reach $2.6 billion.

The jury’s assessment of the “amount of artificial deflation per share” of Twitter stock over approximately five months in 2022 is detailed on the verdict sheet. The sheet lists chronological handwritten figures ranging from less than $3 to more than $8 for each trading day from May 13 through October 3 of that year. The figure of $4.20 stands out as the only one not in black ink.

Previously, in 2018, Musk’s tweet about Tesla’s potential privatization at $420 per share attracted attention from federal securities regulators. While Tesla stock initially surged, it later plummeted when Musk abandoned the plan. Investors sued, but a San Francisco jury cleared Musk of wrongdoing in 2023.

In a separate SEC lawsuit over the Tesla tweet, the agency alleged Musk intentionally used the $420 figure to impress his then-girlfriend. The case was settled with Musk and Tesla agreeing to pay investors a combined $40 million without admitting or denying wrongdoing.