Elon Musk has appeared in court to refute allegations that Tesla shareholders were defrauded out of billions of dollars by his tweets.
The company’s chief executive wrote in 2018 that he had “secured” funding to take the electric carmaker private and later that investor backing was “confirmed”, causing shares to soar and then fall.
Less than three weeks later, Musk backtracked on the plan.
Investors who bought or sold stock in the days after the tweets are seeking unspecified damages, but have claimed Musk‘s tweets cost them “billions”.
The trial heard that Musk’s social media admission led to a $40m (£32m) settlement with securities regulators, as well as a class-action lawsuit alleging he misled investors, and he was forced to step down as company chairman.
The 51-year-old billionaire, who has been running Twitter since he purchased the platform for $44bn in October, attended court for around half an hour on Friday to deliver sworn testimony before a nine-person jury and a room packed with reporters and other spectators.
The trial was then adjourned for the weekend, with Musk being told to return on Monday to answer more questions.
