Elon Musk Says He Could Have Raised Funds to Take Tesla Private

The plaintiffs’ lawyers have argued that people made investment decisions because Mr. Musk said he had obtained the funding needed to take Tesla private and had investor support for the deal. But lawyers for Mr. Musk and Tesla have said it is possible investors made decisions based on Mr. Musk’s statement that he was considering taking Tesla private — a statement his lawyers claim was true.

Legal experts have said most companies and chief executives would probably have settled a case like this. But Mr. Musk has often shown a willingness to let lawsuits filed against him and Tesla go to trial.

In testimony on Friday, Mr. Musk acknowledged that his Twitter account provided important information about Tesla and that it had to follow S.E.C. rules. But he said his social media posts did not necessarily cause swings in Tesla’s share price. He also said he couldn’t be as comprehensive on Twitter as Tesla could be in S.E.C. filings and news releases.

Mr. Musk also said his friends, as well as Tesla’s executives and investors, had suggested that he take a break from Twitter before he posted about taking Tesla private.

In 2018, Mr. Musk and Tesla settled a separate lawsuit with the S.E.C. about his proposal to take Tesla private. They paid fines to the S.E.C., and Mr. Musk agreed to resign as Tesla’s chairman and to allow a lawyer to review certain statements about the company before Mr. Musk posted them on social media.

The trial started three months after Mr. Musk acquired Twitter. Since then, he has fired most of its employees, changed its content rules and allowed previously barred or suspended users back onto the platform.

Soon after efforts to take Tesla private ended in 2018, the company began to produce large numbers of cars, which drove its stock higher and made it easier for Tesla to raise billions of dollars by selling shares. But the company’s share price plunged last year as Mr. Musk sold shares to finance his acquisition of Twitter and as Tesla faced stiffer competition.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/business/elon-musk-tesla-trial.html