“Funding secured”: Musk defends his controversial tweets on the witness stand All Swiss high-voltage lines are controlled with drones

A class action lawsuit is being negotiated by investors over Musk’s hasty announcement that he wants to take the electric car maker private. Prosecutors accuse Musk of fraud that robbed them of money. After hours of questioning on Monday, he has to enter the witness stand for the third time on Tuesday.

In particular, two claims in Musk’s tweets take center stage. Not only did he write that he was considering taking Tesla private at a price of $420 per share. He also claimed that such a deal had “secured” funding and confirmed investor support. It later turned out that there were no written financing agreements and influential investors were in favor of staying on the stock exchange.

Judge Edward Chen ruled last year that the allegations in Musk’s tweets from early August 2018 were false. The jury will now decide whether Musk knowingly made false statements, whether they were relevant to the decisions of the plaintiff investors, and whether they actually cost money. Defeat in the process could cost Musk dearly.

Musk: Was convinced of support

Musk reiterated Monday that he really thought he had the money to buy Tesla. For starters, Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Investment Fund had previously pledged its full support for such a deal. On the other hand, he himself had the necessary leeway to raise enough money by selling shares in his aerospace company SpaceX.

However, when questioned by the prosecution’s attorney, Musk admitted that the Saudi investment fund only learned of the proposed price of $420 per share from his tweets. The fund then also asked for more details about the plan in writing, otherwise no decision could be made about participation in the deal. Musk called it a “retraction” from previous commitments.

He also admitted that he had not spoken to investors other than the Saudi fund before informing Tesla’s board of directors of his takeover plan. Plaintiff’s attorney saw this as contradicting the allegation of alleged investor approval.

Tweeted out of concern over revelations

Musk also said he dropped the tweets out of concern that the Financial Times would reveal the proposed deal. At the same time, he admitted that he did not know exactly what the newspaper knew – in fact, the newspaper only reported that the Saudi fund had acquired a stake in Tesla. The article made no mention of plans to withdraw from the exchange.

A slip of the lawyer, who referred to Musk as “Mr. Tweet,” addressed. That actually fits, replied the billionaire who bought Twitter in the fall.

Musk’s own lawyer helped him with his questions to present himself as a seasoned businessman. “I think I’ve raised more money from investors than anyone else in history,” Musk claimed at one point.

The tweets had already gotten Musk and Tesla into a lot of trouble. The 51-year-old and the company each paid $20 million in fines for misleading investors, according to the SEC’s investigation. In addition, Musk had to give up the chairmanship of the board of directors and commit to having Tesla approve potentially price-sensitive tweets.

(sda/dpa)