Elon Musk says he cannot get a fair trial in San Francisco and wants a shareholder lawsuit over a series of 2018 tweets moved from the Bay Area, according to a report.
The Tesla mogul wants the lawsuit – accusing it of causing Twitter’s share price volatility after claiming it had enough funds to take over the corporate privately – to be heard in West Texas, which incorporates the state capital of Austin, where it moved Tesla’s headquarters in 2021 .
If not, the trial must be postponed until the negative media coverage of Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter has calmed down.
“For the past few months, the local media has been saturating this neighborhood with biased and negative stories about Mr. Musk,” attorney Alex Spiro wrote in court Friday.
Spiro noted that press articles blamed Musk for the recent layoffs on Twitter, which has laid off greater than half of its 7,500 employees since taking on in late October – including about 1,000 staff within the San Francisco area. He also wrote that the media suggested that the layoffs can have violated the law.
Musk claimed he could buy Twitter for $420 a share. The move blinded Wall Street and caused severe stock price volatility.
Tesla shareholders filed a class motion lawsuit against Musk, accusing him of securities fraud and arguing that the tweets were intended to manipulate the corporate’s share price and squeeze short sellers
Last yr, a federal judge ruled in favor of shareholders, calling the tweets false and reckless.
With postal wires.