Elon Musk has been sued by Twitter investors who claim the Tesla billionaire manipulated the company’s stock price downward as he ascends a $44 billion takeover of the social media giant.
The investors, who have been asked to be recognised as a class, allege that Musk saved himself $156 million by not disclosing that he had purchased over 5% of Twitter by March 14. They are seeking an unspecified amount of punitive and compensatory damages.
"By delaying his disclosure of his stake in Twitter, Musk engaged in market manipulation and bought Twitter stock at an artificially low price,” the investors, led by Virginia resident William Heresniak, claim.
Twitter has also been named as a defendant by the investors, who claim the social media platform had a duty to investigate Musk’s conduct. However, they are not seeking damages from Twitter.