In a trial focusing on potential manipulation of the stock market, billionaire anarchist Elon Musk declared that he doesn’t believe everything that he tweets as a factual statement, a habit he claims that should mean investors shouldn’t pay attention to what he says.
According to Reuters, Musk took the stand in the securities class action suit that accuses Musk of lying to impact the stock price of Tesla, the electric car company Musk also controls. Investors and Tesla stock owners have sued claiming that Musk’s 2018 tweet that he was going to take the company private was a crass attempt to increase the value of Musk’s personal holdings at the expense of the free market. Musk countered by claiming investors take his statements too seriously: “Just because I tweet something does not mean people believe it or will act accordingly.”
After Musk’s August 7, 2018 post in which he said, “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” the stock fluctuated in the day’s trading, with trading volume doubling on the stock and the price jumping to $387 per share; prior to the tweet, the stock was trading in the low $300-range.