The shareholders’ case against Tesla CEO Elon Musk got off to a slow start Tuesday, with prospective jurors describing the controversial tech billionaire as “narcissistic,” “unpredictable,” “a bit crazy,” “a genius” and “another arrogant rich man” were questioned by the judge about their impartiality.
But, at the end of the day, nine jurors had been selected to serve on the jury for the San Francisco trial, which hinges on whether Musk cheated investors out of “billions” by claiming in 2018 tweets that he had “insured Financing to take the electric carmaker private.
Opening arguments will begin on Wednesday.
The lawsuit seeks damages for shareholders who bought or sold Tesla stock in the days after Musk’s tweets on Aug. 7, 2018. Shareholders did not specify damages, but said Musk’s tweets cost investors “thousands of millions”.
Musk’s 2018 tweets spurred a rally in the company’s share price that ended abruptly a week after it became clear it didn’t have the funds for a buyout after all. Investors then sued him, saying Tesla’s shares wouldn’t have fluctuated as much in value if he hadn’t offered to buy the company for $420 a share.
Musk’s tweet also drew the attention of securities regulators, who concluded it was inappropriate and lying. In a settlement, he was forced to pay $40 million and demanded that he resign as president of Tesla.
Musk has since grown even more controversial with the purchase of Twitter and the subsequent revamp of the social media site’s posting rules, the closure of its headquarters and the firing of many of its employees.
Musk’s lawyers argued that his handling of Twitter had made him so infamous in Twitter’s hometown of San Francisco that he couldn’t get a fair jury there.
But US District Court Judge Edward Chen denied Musk’s request to move the trial to Texas, and instead he and attorneys for both sides questioned jurors who had expressed the views firmer about Musk in a pretrial questionnaire.
“I think he’s a little bit out of it, on a personal level,” said one juror, referring to Musk’s management of Twitter, which he took over in October.
That potential juror and others said they could put their views aside and try the case fairly if they were selected.
Panelists were asked ahead of time about their thoughts on Musk and whether they own a Tesla vehicle.
“I really believe that you can’t judge a person until you put yourself in their shoes,” said another prospective juror, who had said Musk seemed “narcissistic.”
Musk, who could end up testifying at trial, maintains that he believed he had secured financial backing for the purchase during meetings with representatives of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
The outcome of the trial may change the jury’s interpretation of Musk’s motive for the tweets, which Chen has already stated. decided they were fake.
