Elon Musk faces US fraud Trial Over 2018 Tesla Tweet

(CTN News) – Elon Musk, the CEO of the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles, Tesla, will go on trial on Tuesday for allegedly using a tweet to manipulate the stock market after a federal judge denied his plea to have the case moved out of California.

The dispute began in August 2018 when Musk tweeted that he had enough money to take Tesla private, sparking a wild rise in the business’s stock price.

After tweeting that money was “secured” to buy out the company’s owners, Elon Musk was sued by the shareholders for allegedly costing them billions of dollars.

According to a court representative, Judge Edward Chen on Friday rejected to shift the case to Texas, where Elon Musk relocated Tesla’s corporate headquarters, and jury selection is set to start on Tuesday.

The multibillionaire, who acquired Twitter in late October and has drawn heavy criticism for his actions since assuming control of the social media company, was represented by defense attorneys who claimed he would not get a fair trial in San Francisco.

Elon Musk drastically altered the site’s content moderation procedures after assuming control of Twitter, firing more than half of the 7,500 workers, most of whom were based in San Francisco.

The CEO’s attorneys stated in a document that “the local media has bombarded this area over the previous few months with prejudiced and unfavorable reports about Mr. Musk that have developed… very unfair prejudices in the jury pool.”

The attorneys said that the local media had blamed Mr. Musk directly for the cutbacks and even accused him of breaking the law, which was a departure from how they generally covered similar topics.

Bloomberg reports that Judge Chen expressed confidence in choosing fair jurors throughout the hearing.

Authorities have already taken notice of Elon Musk’s brief tweet from 2018.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the US stock market, issued an order requiring Musk to resign as Tesla’s board chairman and pay a $20 million punishment.

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