Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car giant Tesla, will face trial on Tuesday over allegedly manipulating the stock market with a 2018 tweet that claimed that he had sufficient funding to take Tesla private, causing a whirlwind in the company’s share price.
Musk was swiftly sued by shareholders for allegedly costing them billions of dollars with the Twitter post that said funding was “secured” to buy out the company’s shareholders.
Judge Edward Chen on Friday refused to transfer the proceedings to Texas, the southern state where Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters and jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, AFP reported citing a spokesperson for the court.
Defence lawyers had argued that Elon Musk would be denied a fair trial in San Francisco, where most of the fired Twitter workers reside.
According to Bloomberg, Judge Chen expressed confidence at the hearing that impartial jurors could be chosen. Musk’s short tweet in 2018 has already attracted the attention of authorities.
The US stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, ordered that Musk step down as chairman of the board of Tesla and pay a fine of US$20 million.
In other news – Thando Thabethe reveals she’s feeling better in hospital
Media personality Thando Thabethe says she is feeling better after an absence from the airwaves. Thando took to her social media timeline on Wednesday to reveal she is in the hospital.
“I’m in the hospital trying to get better to be back,” she told a fan who said they missed her on radio. Returning to social media on Thursday, Thando thanked her fans for the get-well wishes that flooded her timeline. Learn More