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SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 24 (AP) – Elon Musk reappeared Tuesday for the third day in a class-action lawsuit filed by Tesla investors alleging he misled the public with a tweet about a deal that never happened. They, proving his intentions, kept letting his shareholders know he was considering a buyout.
The 51-year-old billionaire resumed his staunch defense in a trial centered on two 2018 tweets under friendly questioning by his own lawyer, Alex Spiro , indicating that he is ready to take Tesla private.
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When Spiro poked him lightly, Musk told the nine-person jury that he had only said he was “considering” a Tesla acquisition, but never promised to close the deal. However, Musk said he thought it was important to get the message across to investors that Tesla might be preparing to end its eight-year run as a public company.
“I have no malice,” Musk said, “My intent is to do the right thing for all shareholders.”
Musk had at times been combative, indignant and angry when cross-examined by lawyers representing Tesla shareholders the day before.
Throughout, Musk has maintained that he had locked in financial support for Tesla’s $72 billion acquisition when he met with representatives of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2018, though no specific amount or price was discussed.
When he received texts and emails indicating that a representative of the Saudi fund had never committed to funding a full Tesla acquisition, Musk argued that it was nothing more than an attempt to undo a promise made in a private conversation.
When Musk appeared in court on Tuesday, he held in contempt of attorneys who sued on behalf of Tesla shareholders who held the company stock for 10 days in August 2018.
“I don’t believe they actually represent shareholders,” Musk sneered, drawing a rebuke from U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, who ordered the sentence to be expunged from the record.
In the class-action lawsuit, Tesla investors accuse Musk of taking his electric car company private at $420 a share and misleading them about his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
But the deal never came close to happening, and the tweet led to a $40 million settlement with securities regulators.
Musk has previously argued that he settled under duress and insisted he never wavered in his belief that he had the money to make the deal.
He noted Tuesday that he has a nearly 30-year track record as an entrepreneur and has never had trouble raising money from a string of venture capital investments in the past, including PayPal and Neuralink, as well as Tesla Inc. SpaceX.
“Fundraising is not a problem for me,” Musk said with a laugh. “I did a good job for investors, and when you do a good job for investors, they give you money.”
The trial hinges on whether two tweets by Musk on Aug. 7, 2018, harmed Tesla shareholders in the 10 days before Musk admitted that the acquisition he envisioned would not happen.
Those statements led to a $40 million settlement between Musk and Tesla without admitting to any wrongdoing.
In his first tweet in 2018, Musk said “funding is secured,” when the electric carmaker was still grappling with production issues and was worth far more than Tesla, which at the time would Buying Tesla for $72 billion (or $420 per share) is less than it is now. Hours later, Musk sent another tweet suggesting a deal was imminent. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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