Musk Tells Jury People Read Too Much Into His Posts in Twitter Investor Trial

Published: March 5, 2026
The English Chronicle Desk
The English Chronicle Online

Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter), told a federal jury this week that critics and investors “read too much” into his social media posts as he defended himself against claims that his online statements impacted markets and misled shareholders. The remarks came on the second day of a civil trial in San Francisco brought by a group of investors who allege that Musk’s public comments in 2022 contributed to stock market fluctuations and financial losses during his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

At the heart of the lawsuit are messages Musk posted while negotiating the takeover of Twitter, including a widely publicised declaration that the deal was “temporarily on hold” pending further analysis of bot accounts on the platform. Investors say that tweet and others like it caused significant drops in Twitter’s share price, prompting some shareholders to sell at losses before the acquisition closed later that year. Musk and his legal team have denied any intention to mislead or manipulate the market.

During testimony on Wednesday, Musk sought to characterise his posts as “extremely literal” expressions of his thoughts rather than calculated efforts to influence stock prices. “I was simply speaking my mind,” he told jurors when asked whether he had considered the impact his statements might have on investors. He added that “people tend to read too much into things that I do,” and described the stock market as “manic depressive,” suggesting that price swings were more a function of broader market behaviour than his individual tweets.

Musk acknowledged that some of his comments in 2022 may not have been “my wisest” but insisted that they were not intended to diminish the agreed‑upon takeover price or deceive shareholders. His lawyers have argued that his statements reflected genuine concerns about aspects of Twitter’s business, such as user engagement and the prevalence of spam and fake accounts, which Musk said he believed were material issues worth publicly raising.

The trial marks the first time a lawsuit over Musk’s conduct in the run‑up to the Twitter acquisition has reached a jury. It also highlights the legal risks that high‑profile executives face when communicating publicly about corporate matters on social media platforms. Musk’s frequent and often controversial posts have previously drawn scrutiny, including in earlier legal disputes over statements relating to Tesla.

Plaintiffs in the case are seeking unspecified monetary damages, claiming they suffered financial harm by selling Twitter stock at prices influenced by Musk’s public statements. Lawyers for the shareholders maintain that Musk’s tweets and public remarks went beyond benign commentary and materially affected investor expectations and market behaviour. They have argued that Musk’s takeover negotiations and social media strategy were intertwined, contributing to uncertainty that depressed share prices.

Musk’s defence stresses that attributing specific market outcomes to any individual’s social media posts is inherently speculative. He maintained that the market’s reaction to his comments was unpredictable and that he did not deliberately seek to manipulate prices. “What I think privately is what I say publicly; there’s no difference,” he said at one point, acknowledging that his personal and public personas often align.

The trial is expected to continue for several more weeks as both sides present evidence and question witnesses. Jurors will ultimately decide whether Musk’s communications constitute unlawful conduct under securities laws — a decision that could have implications for corporate governance and executive communications in the age of pervasive social media influence.

Read More At>>