US jury finds Elon Musk misled investors during Twitter purchase

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Briefing Summary

AI-generated · Mar 21, 2026

NEWSAR · AI

A US federal jury in California found Elon Musk liable for misleading Twitter shareholders in May 2022, causing a drop in the company's stock price. The verdict stems from a class action securities lawsuit filed by investor Giuseppe Pampena on behalf of those who sold Twitter shares between mid-May and early October 2022. The jury determined that two of Musk's tweets contained false statements violating securities rules against misleading statements that negatively impact stock prices. While absolving Musk of scheming to mislead investors, the jury's decision could result in Musk being ordered to pay billions in damages, estimated by plaintiffs' lawyers at $2.6 billion. Musk's legal team plans to appeal the verdict.

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Article analysis

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Key claims

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Lawyers for Musk said their client will appeal the decision.

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Investor Giuseppe Pampena filed the suit on behalf of people who sold Twitter shares between mid-May and early October 2022.

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Two tweets posted in May 2022 by Musk contained false statements responsible for a plunge in Twitter’s share price.

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A federal jury in California found that Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders.

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A lawyer for the plaintiffs estimated the damages at about $2.6bn.

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Full report

2 min read · 338 words

Jury finds that two tweets posted in May 2022 by Musk contained false statements responsible for a plunge in Twitter’s share price.A federal jury in California has found that tech tycoon Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders, driving down the company’s share price as he was poised to buy it in a $44bn deal.The verdict delivered on Friday in the class action securities lawsuit means the world’s richest person could be ordered to pay billions of dollars, according to damages calculated by jurors.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Twitter trial accusing Musk of driving down stock set for closing argumentslist 2 of 4How corporations have collaborated with US military over the decadeslist 3 of 4Musk merges SpaceX and xAI firms, plans for space-based AI data centreslist 4 of 4‘An apocalypse’: Why are experts sounding the alarm on AI risks?end of listAfter a three-week trial in a San Francisco federal court – which included in-person testimony from Musk – the jury found that two tweets posted in May 2022 by the Tesla and SpaceX CEO contained false statements responsible for a plunge in Twitter’s share price.Investor Giuseppe Pampena had filed the suit on behalf of people who sold Twitter shares between mid-May and early October 2022.Jurors agreed that Musk violated a securities rule that bars false and misleading statements that sink a stock price, in this case that of Twitter, the verdict form showed. A lawyer for the plaintiffs estimated the damages at about $2.6bn.But the nine-person jury absolved Musk of some fraud allegations, finding that he did not “scheme” to mislead investors.Minutes after the judgement was announced, lawyers for Musk, who acquired the social media platform in late October 2022 and later renamed it X, said their client will appeal the decision, characterising it as a “setback”.Musk, who has a near-constant presence on X, did not immediately react to the verdict, which marks a rare legal defeat for the billionaire often dubbed “Teflon Elon” for his ability to emerge unscathed from lawsuits he is expected to lose.

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