Elon Musk victorious in court dispute over 2018 tweet

Tesla CEO and Twitter owner wins summary judgment in securities fraud class action case

Court rules that Musk's tweet did not have a substantial impact on Tesla's stock price

In a significant victory for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a federal court in San Francisco has granted summary judgment in a securities fraud class action case stemming from a 2018 tweet in which Musk stated that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share.

The plaintiffs in the case alleged that Musk's tweet was false and misleading, and that it caused them to lose money when Tesla's stock price dropped after it was revealed that Musk did not actually have the funding secured.

However, the court found that Musk's tweet was not material, meaning that it did not have a substantial impact on Tesla's stock price. The court also found that Musk did not act with reckless disregard for the truth when he made the tweet.

The court's ruling is a major victory for Musk and Tesla. It is also a blow to the plaintiffs' lawyers, who had been seeking billions of dollars in damages.

The ruling is likely to have a significant impact on future securities fraud cases involving social media statements by corporate executives. It suggests that courts will be reluctant to find that such statements are material unless they can be shown to have a substantial impact on the company's stock price.

The case is also a reminder of the importance of carefully considering the potential consequences of social media statements before posting them. Even if a statement is not intended to be misleading, it could still be found to be material if it has a substantial impact on the company's stock price.