Former Twitter shareholders accuse Elon Musk of misleading investors about bot counts, impacting his $44B acquisition deal.

Closing arguments have begun in a San Francisco civil trial where former Twitter shareholders allege Elon Musk misled investors by claiming the platform had far more fake accounts than disclosed, driving down the stock price during his 2022 attempt to acquire Twitter for $44 billion. Musk testified the bot rate was at least 20%, while Twitter’s former CFO said it was closer to 1% and that the company had not filed false SEC reports, though it had corrected a 2017 user-count error. The lawsuit centers on whether Musk’s statements were deceptive, following his initial attempt to exit the deal, which led to a Delaware lawsuit before he reversed course and completed the purchase. Judge Charles R. Breyer reminded the jury to ensure a fair trial despite public sentiment.