The civil trial centers on a class-action lawsuit filed shortly before Musk took control of Twitter, which he later renamed “X.”
Closing arguments are set to begin in a U.S. trial between Elon Musk and Twitter shareholders, now known as “X,” who allege that the world’s richest man engaged in a pattern of deceptive conduct that misled investors during his attempt to back out of the $44 billion deal to purchase the social media platform in 2022.
The hearings will begin on Tuesday.
The civil trial in San Francisco centers on a class-action lawsuit filed shortly before Musk took control of Twitter, which he rebranded in October 2022—six months after agreeing to purchase the struggling company for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share. That amount represents only a small fraction of Musk’s wealth, which is currently estimated at $839 billion.
Most of the trial centered on Musk’s claims about the number of fake accounts on Twitter. Musk testified, as he had previously asserted, that Twitter had far more fake accounts and bots than the 5% figure disclosed in the company’s reports. He used what he described as the misleading representation of the number of fake accounts on the platform as a justification for backing out of the purchase.
After Musk attempted to back out of the deal, Twitter filed suit in Delaware court to compel him to honor the original agreement. Before the trial was set to begin, Musk reversed course once again and agreed to pay the originally agreed-upon amount.
الحسابات المزيفة والروبوتات
لم تكن مشكلة الحسابات المزيفة والروبوتات جديدة عند تفاوض ماسك على الصفقة. ففي عام 2021، دفعت تويتر مبلغ 809.5 مليون دولار لتسوية دعوى قانونية تتعلق بمبالغتها في معدل نموها وأرقام المستخدمين الشهرية. كما كانت الشركة تكشف تقديراتها الخاصة بالحسابات المزيفة للجنة الأوراق المالية والبورصات (SEC) لعدة سنوات، مع تحذيرها من أن هذه التقديرات قد تكون أقل من الواقع.
However, Musk claimed that the number was much higher, with some analysts estimating that fake accounts made up around 20% of total accounts. Musk said that asserting the number of fake accounts was that high was like “saying the grass is green or the sky is blue.”
For his part, former Twitter CFO Ned Segal disputed this claim, explaining in his testimony that the actual figure was closer to 1%.
When asked whether Twitter had provided false data to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the number of fake accounts, Segal affirmed that it had not. However, he noted that the company corrected its financial statements after discovering an error in calculating the number of daily users. In 2017, Twitter announced that it had been overstating its monthly user figures because it had been including users of third-party applications who should not have been counted.
On Monday, the two parties met to review the jury instructions. Judge Charles R. Breyer noted that many members of the jury held negative views toward Musk. However, the judge added that a person who is “unpopular in the public eye” is still entitled to a fair trial and must be treated without discrimination or bias.