Jury: Musk did not defraud investors in Tesla tweets

FILE – Elon Musk departs the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Sam…

FILE – Elon Musk departs the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Sam Teller, Musk’s former chief of staff, testified that the billionaire believed he had a “handshake deal” to take Tesla private in 2018 shortly before he tweeted he had the financing for an aborted buyout that is still haunting him in a high-profile trial. (AP Photo/ Benjamin Fanjoy, File)

by: Perry Groten

Posted: Feb 4, 2023 / 07:23 AM CST

Updated: Feb 4, 2023 / 11:01 AM CST

SAN FRANCISO (Associated Press) — A jury has decided Elon Musk didn’t defraud investors with tweets in 2018.

The verdict by the nine jurors was reached after less than two hours of deliberation following a three-week trial.

The trial pitted Tesla investors represented in a class-action lawsuit against Musk, who is CEO of both the electric automaker and the Twitter service he bought for for $44 billion a few months ago.

In 2018, Musk tweeted that he had the financing to take Tesla private even though it turned out he hadn’t gotten an iron-clad commitment for an aborted deal that would have cost $20 billion to $70 billion to pull off.

The verdict is a major vindication for Musk.