The Facts
On Tuesday, a class action suit claiming Tesla shareholders were defrauded by tweets from CEO Elon Musk was scheduled to begin against the billionaire and his company in San Francisco.
Musk, who now owns Twitter, claimed in an Aug. 7, 2018 tweet that he had secured $72B in financing to take Tesla private; he then held firm to that notion in a follow-up tweet. Tesla’s stock price rallied until it was revealed a week later that he didn’t have the funding.
The Spin
Narrative A
Musk and Tesla are already behind the eight ball because of the judge’s summary judgment that the tweets were untruthful and recklessly shared. Neither Musk’s previous settlement with the SEC nor his erratic behavior since taking over Twitter has done him any favors, and this case is probably going to cost him another devastatingly large chunk of his fortune.
Narrative B
There’s no way for Musk to get a fair trial. Tainted coverage of the situation surrounding his tweets, in addition to other reporting on his career, will sway the jury against him, which is why the judge should’ve allowed a change of venue. The plaintiffs should also be more appreciative that despite what might’ve happened around the tweets, their Tesla shares are now worth six times as much as they were valued back then.
