"There Were a Lot of Threats,' Musk Testifies on Twitter Deal

A defiant Elon Musk on Wednesday took the stand in a jury trial to defend himself against accusations that he engaged in a pattern of deceptive behavior that misled investors as he attempted to back out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter before he finally completed the takeover. The civil trial in San Francisco centers on a class-action lawsuit filed just before Musk took control of Twitter, the social media platform he renamed X, in October 2022, six months after agreeing to buy the embattled company for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share. The price paid by the world's richest man represents a sliver of his fortune now estimated at $841 billion, the AP reports.

The case from Twitter shareholders who sold the stock between May 13 and Oct. 4, 2022, revolves around allegations that Musk violated federal securities laws while taking a series of calculated steps to drive down the company's stock price in an attempt to either blow up the deal or wrangle a lower sale price. Musk maintained the deal merited renegotiation or termination while insisting Twitter's board duped him about the percentage of fake, or "bot," accounts on its platform—a stance he took again during his Wednesday testimony. Asked if he had threatened to "hunt down" Twitter's board unless members returned to the negotiating table to discuss a revised sales price, Musk didn't rule out that possibility in an answer that reflected the acrimony surrounding the deal.

"There were a lot of threats going back and forth from both sides," Musk said. "I was pretty upset with the Twitter board because I felt they had engaged in fraud." In his testimony, Musk asserted that his decision to follow through on the deal at the original price provided a huge windfall for most Twitter shareholders. But Twitter's shares fell below $33, or about 40% below Musk's original purchase price, while the deal was in limbo. That downturn cost shareholders who sold their stock during the uncertainty caused by what the lawsuit alleges was Musk's deceitful behavior. "I can't control whether people sell their stock, but everyone who held the stock fared extremely well," Musk said. He is scheduled to continue his testimony on Thursday.