I should add, the Musk/Tesla verdict came back so fast there weren’t many people in the courtroom to hear it. Most of the gallery benches were empty. Spiro can say he knew, but a lot of people were caught off guard.
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I asked Alex Spiro, Elon Musk’s lead attorney if he was surprised by how quickly the Tesla case was decided. “I am not,” he answered. No further comment.
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Elon Musk and Tesla have defeated the class action lawsuit spurred by the 2018 “Funding Secured” tweets. The jury returned the verdict in barely two hours. Elon Musk was not in the courtroom for the reading.
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Multiple complaints.
“Has plaintiff proved their complaint?”
- No
“Has plaintiff proved their complaint?”
- No
Jury agrees upon the verdict.
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BREAKING: We have a verdict in the Tesla shareholder trial. Jury just returning to the courtroom.
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Judge has asked everyone to stay within 5 to 10 minutes of the courthouse. Jury has indicated they might work through 4pm.
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With that, closing arguments are over in the Tesla shareholder trial. The judge has issued the jury instructions, and the case has gone to the jury as of 12:44 pm.
Now we wait.
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Porritt: “Don’t listen to the high kindred rhetoric about how Elon Musk is out for the little guy. It’s just not true. All of corporate America is watching this trial and waiting for your decision.”
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Spiro has been objecting to elements of Porritt’s closing rebuttal. Overruled. Definitely some increased intensity here in closing hours. Spiro’s close was impassioned, almost short of breath. After three weeks, we’re in the final moments here. Jurors must sense it.
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Plaintiffs attorney now with a rebuttal. Starts by reasserting “the tweet is false.”
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Spiro says justice is required most when a jury considers a case involving “someone who is sometimes unlikable, or makes bad tweets. … The truth is now with you. The case is up to you.”
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“We came here for the truth. The whole truth. Don’t compromise. What evidence is there that anyone was committing fraud. He didn’t intend to deceive anybody. You all know that.”
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Spiro: “They have the burden to explain and prove, clearly, something that you are comfortable with. Here’s the [jury] questionnaire. You sign it, you go home. That’s what happens when plaintiffs don’t make their case.”
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“Stocks move all the time for lots of reasons. They want to punish Musk for using two words, but they move all the time.”
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Defense closing continues. Elon Musk was not here when Spiro initially resumed, but he has since returned to the courtroom.
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Judge asks Spiro to take a break. Closings were supposed to be done by now. So, 20 min break. Defense thinks they have 20 min left. 10 min rebuttal. To the jury a little after noon.
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Says “am considering” (the tweet language) actually understated Musk’s intention of going private. “Anything in this context could never contain an exact dollar amount.”
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Spiro describes Musk as “a kid from South Africa.”
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“This unique person says something that isn’t a term of art. In that moment, he didn’t think ‘how could these words be interpreted by someone different than me.’”
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On Musk’s testimony: “That’s what a real witnesses look like. It was the first one you’d seen in this trial. But you don’t need to rely on his testimony alone.”
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Spiro: “They tried to condition you. ‘Bad tweet. Bad tweet. Fraud tweet.’ Just because it’s a bad tweet doesn’t make it fraud.”
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Spiro now questioning whether investors (namely Glen Littleton and Tim Fries) were legitimately driven by the tweets, or did they recast their experience in an effort to capitalize on the class action.
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“Lack of funding did not prevent this from going forward. Funding was never an issue. … The shareholders wanted to stay public.”
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Porritt has concluded by asking jury to award full damages. Defense attorney Alex Spiro now beginning his closing argument. “He wrote two words, ‘funding secured,’ that were inaccurate.”
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“This is a simple case because you’ve been told to assume the tweets are untrue. It’s also a simple case when it comes to damages and harm.” Porritt now shows the room the 420 tweet.
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“The court has instructed you that you must assume that Elon Musk’s tweets were untrue… so the question becomes whether he should be held accountable for his false tweets.”
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Porritt: “Our society is based on rules, and we have rules for a reason. This case is ultimately about whether the rules they apply to everyone else also apply to Elon Musk.”
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Tech issues resolved. Jury in the courtroom. Closing arguments in the #Tesla shareholder trial are underway, beginning with Nichols Porritt for the plaintiffs. Elon Musk watches on from the defense counsel’s table.
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Those discussions are complete. And now the courtroom, including Elon Musk, sitting at his counsel's table, waits on the courthouse IT team to resolve some problems with the video monitors. Closing arguments as soon as that's resolved,,,
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Attorneys have argued over some late filings, with the judge is clearly irritated that they violated his "after 6pm" and "two days" rules. Now discussion about jury instructions, "what does false mean," and the question(s) they must ultimately resolve as to liability for fraud.
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Elon Musk has just walked into the courtroom where closing arguments are about to be heard in the trial over his $420 "funding secured" tweets in 2018.
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Woke up to a deceased phone. 10 hours later I’m largely restored, but what a jarring and humbling lesson in how entirely dependent we are on these.
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Elon Musk takes one last jab at class action lawsuits, a comment the judge strikes from the record, and that's it. Musk leaves the witness stand after about two full days of total testimony (Mon/Tue, & 30 min on Friday). The case is expected to last through next week.
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Elon Musk: “I never want an investor to lose money. If he did on the basis of the tweet, obviously I would be sad about that. But investors in public markets buy and sell stock all the time. On balance, they have done extremely well.”
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Question: "Have you ever felt any regret about any harm your tweets may have caused...?"
Elon Musk A: “The reality is that Tesla investors are extremely happy and you don’t represent them.”
Attorney repeatedly asks the judge to order musk to answer....
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On the 3rd day of testimony Elon Musk's eventual purchase of Twitter is finally mentioned (the use of Tesla stock for the purchase). Until now, it's been an unspoken irony in a fraud trail over a series of Tweets.
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Defense attorneys have finished their questioning of Elon Musk. Plaintiffs’ counsel will pick up again after a short break. Defense wrapped up with another visit to “2018 was an extremely painful” year for Musk, and that it has stayed with him.
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This generally picks up from defense's line of questioning on the motivation behind the 420 tweet yesterday. Recap of Monday in 1:45 here:
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When asked about the wording of the tweet he emphasizes “am considering," says it was "very literal.” Goes on to say “It’s absolutely what I believed.” Says he does not believe the class action lawsuit expresses the will of the shareholders.
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