Musk Tells Jury 'People Read Too Much' Into His Posts

Multi-billionaire technology tycoon Elon Musk told a jury in California on Wednesday that stock market investors read too much into his social media posts.

He was defending himself against claims from investors, who have accused him of trying to manipulate markets with a series of misleading messages in the run-up to his 2022 purchase of Twitter.

Musk said posts he wrote after he had struck a deal to buy the platform were "extremely literal" and not intended to try to reduce the price he would have to pay.

"I was simply speaking my mind," he said when asked if he had considered the impact of his posts, including one in which he declared his takeover plans on hold.

"People tend to read too much into things that I do," he said.

At other points in the trial, Musk said repeatedly that his tweets represent what is in his head at any given time.

"What I think privately is what I say publicly, there's no difference," he said.

The dispute marks the first lawsuit over Musk's 2022 Twitter purchase to make it to trial, but his social media habit has landed him in legal trouble before.

In earlier fights, he has successfully beaten back claims that he misled Tesla investors and committed defamation via his posts.

The trial, which started on Monday in San Francisco, is expected to last three weeks.

Investors are seeking unspecified monetary damages from Musk, which they say they are owed given they acted on allegedly his misleading statements, including when he claimed he was "terminating" the deal in July.

"If this was a trial on whether I've made stupid tweets, I'd say I'm guilty," Musk said at one point.

- Author: Kali Hays, BBC