2026-03-05 13:11:19

Elon Musk has told a jury that “people read too much” into his social media posts.

The world’s richest man was defending himself against claims from investors who have accused him of trying to manipulate markets with misleading messages in the lead-up to his purchase of Twitter in October 2022.

Musk explained that posts written after he had agreed a deal to buy the social media platform were “extremely literal” and not written with the aim of reducing the price that he would have to pay.

When asked if he had contemplated the impact of his posts, the Tesla tycoon said: “I was simply speaking my mind.

“People tend to read too much into things that I do.”

At other points during the trial in San Francisco, Musk insisted that his tweets represent what is in his head at any given moment.

The billionaire said: “What I think privately is what I say publicly, there’s no difference.”

The dispute is the first lawsuit over Musk’s acquisition of Twitter to make it to trial – but his social media activity has landed the tycoon in trouble previously.

The trial, which started on Monday (02.03.26), is set to last for three weeks.

The SpaceX boss has successfully fought claims that he misled Tesla investors and committed defamation via his posts.

Investors are seeking unspecifiedfinancial damages from Musk – which they claim they are owed given they acted on allegedly misleading statements such as his claim that he was “terminating” the deal in July 2022.

Brian Belgrave – who is leading the group of investors suing the tycoon – told the court that he had sold thousands of Twitter shares as he believed that Musk was no longer going to buy the platform due to his posts and comments.

Belgrave’s sale price was less than he’d bought the shares for a few months prior, and considerably less than the $54.20 per share that Musk eventually paid after Twitter sued him to make him follow through on the $44 billion takeover deal.

He said: “I got screwed. I got cheated.”

After Musk purchased Twitter, he changed the platform’s name to X and made sweeping changes – including cutting staff, introducing a charge to get accounts verified and relaxing its approach to content moderation.

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