A lawsuit has been filed against Tesla CEO Elon Musk on behalf of Twitter shareholders, claiming that the billionaire Tesla CEO actively manipulated Twitter stock for his own gain.
The Verge reports that a new lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Twitter shareholders against Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The lawsuit alleges that Musk has been actively manipulating the company’s stock for his own gain.
(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, BNN Edit)
The lawsuit focuses on Musk’s conduct since signing the buyout offer to acquire Twitter on April 25, particularly his recent comments stating that the deal “cannot move forward” without more information about bot accounts on the platform.
The complaint alleges that after signing the agreement: “Musk proceeded to make statements, send tweets, and engage in conduct designed to create doubt about the deal and drive Twitter’s stock down substantially in order to create leverage that Musk hoped to use to either back out of the purchase or re-negotiate the buyout price.”
The complaint adds: “As detailed herein, Musk’s conduct was and continues to be illegal, in violation of the California Corporations Code, and contrary to the contractual terms he agreed to in the deal.”
The lawsuit is a proposed class action brought by a group of shareholders and is seeking damages that would be distributed among anyone holding Twitter stock. The complaint is seeking injunctive relief by the court which could potentially force Musk to purchase Twitter at the agreed-upon price of $54.20, despite Twitter stock currently trading below $40.
Musk’s public statements in his attempt to buy Twitter have already resulted in Tesla stock being driven down to the point that the billionaire was forced to abandon plans to secure financing through loans against his holdings in Tesla. Musk told the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week that he will provide an additional $6 billion in equity financing to make up for the expired loans.
Read more at the Verge here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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