On August 10, a complaint was filed against the business executive for having “artificially manipulated the price of Tesla’s stock in order to completely ruin investors” who are betting on the price drop. Four and a half years later, the last barrier to holding a trial seems to have been lifted. According to the court, Judge Edward Chen refused to transfer the prosecution to Texas, the US state where Elon Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters, and jury selection is due to begin on Tuesday.
“False and misleading”
The defense argued that the multi-billionaire could not benefit from an impartial trial in San Francisco. “In recent months, the local media has saturated this district with biased and negative articles about Elon Musk,” his lawyers said. “The local press, contrary to its usual way of covering (the social plans), personally blamed Elon Musk for the job cuts and even accused him of breaking the law. Local elected officials, including the mayor of San Francisco, participated in protests against him,” they continued.
Edward Chen on the contrary estimated Friday that an impartial jury could be constituted in the Californian city, noting that “Elon Musk has a lot of fans here”, according to Bloomberg. In a previous decision related to this case, the judge ruled that the famous 2018 tweet could be considered “false and misleading”. The short message from the boss of Tesla has already earned him numerous disputes with the authorities.
