By BullScreen Editorial Team 
A U.S. jury has ruled that Elon Musk misled investors during his high-profile 2022 acquisition of Twitter, now known as X, but stopped short of finding that he intentionally orchestrated a broader fraud scheme.
The verdict, delivered in a San Francisco federal court, follows a nearly three-week trial examining whether Musk’s public statements influenced Twitter’s share price during the $44 billion takeover. Jurors concluded that two of Musk’s tweets including one stating the deal was “temporarily on hold”—misled investors, contributing to stock volatility.
However, the jury found that Musk’s comments on a podcast reflected opinion rather than deliberate deception. It also rejected claims that he engaged in a calculated scheme to manipulate the market.
The case stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders who sold stock amid uncertainty surrounding the deal. The jury awarded damages estimated between $3 and $8 per share per day, totaling roughly $2.1 billion, according to plaintiffs’ lawyers.
During the trial, Musk defended his actions, arguing that Twitter had understated the number of fake or spam accounts on its platform. He cited this as a key reason for attempting to delay or renegotiate the acquisition before ultimately completing the deal at the original price.
The ruling underscores growing scrutiny of how influential executives use social media to communicate market-sensitive information. For investors, it highlights the risks tied to high-profile deals driven by real-time public statements.
The outcome may also have broader implications for the tech and AI ecosystem, where platform ownership and data integrity—central to Musk’s vision for X—play an increasingly critical role in shaping future innovation and investor confidence.