Musk Found Liable
A San Francisco jury found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors about Twitter’s stock ahead of his $44B 2022 buyout — he was cleared of full fraud but faces potential damages of roughly $3–$8 per share per day (x.com). The ruling has investors parsing liability exposure and market fallout for related tech and media names (x.com).
Jurors unanimously found two specific May 2022 posts — the May 13 and May 17 messages — to be materially false or misleading. (cnbc.com) A nine‑member jury returned its verdict after nearly four days of deliberation at the end of a trial that began March 2, 2026 and ran roughly three weeks. (pbs.org) Plaintiffs’ lawyers said the jurors’ day‑by‑day calculations could translate into about $2.6 billion in total awards, which they estimate breaks down to roughly $2.1 billion in stock claims and about $500 million in options. (news.bloomberglaw.com) The suit, filed as Pampena v. Musk on Oct. 10, 2022, represents people and entities that sold Twitter stock between May 13 and Oct. 4, 2022, according to the court docket. (pacermonitor.com) The jury rejected two of the four fraud claims and concluded there was no overarching “scheme” to defraud; Musk’s lawyers at Quinn Emanuel said they will appeal the mixed verdict. (news.bloomberglaw.com) Jurors calculated how Musk’s statements affected Twitter’s price for each trading day over about a five‑month period, and a post‑verdict claims process will determine individual payouts after shareholders submit claims; the trial included roughly two weeks of live testimony from Musk and senior Twitter executives. (bloomberg.com)
