- Elon Musk is facing a class action lawsuit over tweets claiming he secured funding to take Tesla private.
- His attorneys say the trial should be held in Texas rather than California to ensure fairness.
- Ever since Musk took over Twitter, potential jurors have been biased against the billionaire, they claim.
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has made him so unpopular in the state of California that he is unlikely to get a fair trial, his lawyers argued in a recent court filing.
Tesla CEO faces class action lawsuit over his Tweets 2018 indicating that he planned to privatize the electric vehicle company at $420 per share and had “secured financing” to do so.
Just a month after the initial 2018 tweet, Musk paid a $20 million fine and fraud charges settled with the SEC for making “false and misleading statements”. Although Musk neither admitted nor denied the accusation, he resigned as Tesla chairman and was replaced by Tesla. Robyn Denholm.
Senior District of Northern California Judge Edward M. Chen, who will oversee the class action lawsuit, ruled last year that Musk knowingly made false statements, which could have impacted the course of the lawsuit. action of Tesla. The upcoming lawsuit will determine whether the messages actually impacted Tesla’s share price, whether the company or its directors should be held liable, and whether shareholders are entitled to damages. according to NBC News.
After finalizing his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter as of last year, the billionaire still has about $13 billion in debt – much of which is secured by his remaining stake in Tesla under the leveraged buyout, The street reportedmaking the financial future of both companies deeply involved.
Since acquiring Twitter on Oct. 27, Tesla’s stock price has fallen from $225.09 to $113.06 per share, its lowest point since August 2020.
Musk’s business dealings since acquiring the social media company, including collective redundancies and a cultural current describe employees as “toxic”, It could also make it harder for the billionaire to stand trial by a jury of his peers in California, his lawyers say, and should be transferred to Texas.
Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, argued in a petition filed on Friday that a “substantial portion of the jury pool in this district is likely to have a personal and material bias against Mr. Musk following recent dismissals at one of his businesses as individual prospective jurors – or their friends and relatives – may have been personally affected.The existing grassroots bias has been compounded, widened and reinforced by the negative and inflammatory local publicity surrounding the events.
In December 2021, Tesla moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas. Twitter remains based in San Francisco, California.
Referring to regular protests and pickets outside Musk’s offices in San Francisco — some of which, Spiro said, are “endorsed and encouraged by local political figures” — Musk’s attorneys noted in the record that “the negativity towards Mr. Musk was not isolated”. .” to the press” and “deprive him of an impartial jury and his constitutional right to a fair trial”.
If the location transfer request was not granted by the court, Spiro requested an extension to delay the trial, arguing that the judge should allow time for “passions that have been inflamed” by “recent events and coverage biased local media to dissipate”. before jurors hear the case.
The application is due to be heard by Judge Chen on January 13, according to the depositjust four days before the start of the trial.
Musk, his legal team and Tesla representatives did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
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