Elon Musk‘s Twitter buyout odyssey is on the minds of investors as Friday’s court date for the $44 billion deal getting closer.
Musk nearly destroyed the internet when he announced his plans Twitter TWTR Private in April. But the magnate is still facing multiple lawsuits from a 2018 tweet announcing his plans Tesla TSLA private at $420 per share.
A new lawsuit related to this event was filed last week.
Musk’s infamous 420 tweet
The tweet said funding had been secured for a take-private deal. Musk’s lawyers said in a court filing earlier this year that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was ready to support the purchase.
Related: Is Elon Musk a winner or a loser if he takes over Twitter? 41% of Benzinga followers say…
The infamous 420 tweet was perceived by some as a marijuana-related joke, and it was posted just a month before the billionaire smoked weed in public on Joe Rogans podcast.
Joke or not, the tweet cost Musk and Tesla SEC fines of $40 million; $20 million of that out of his own pocket. According to the SEC, Musk knew the potential transaction was “uncertain and subject to numerous contingencies.”
The SEC’s complaint read, “Musk’s misleading tweets caused Tesla’s stock price to rise more than 6 percent on August 7, causing significant market disruption.”
The tweet also cost Musk his presidency of the company.
Shareholder lawsuits pending over Musk’s 420 tweet
More than four years later, Musk’s public statements still haunt him and the electric vehicle maker. For several shareholders, Musk’s 420 tweet caused unprecedented volatility and potentially billions of dollars in losses.
The company’s most recent SEC filing, released earlier this week, shows that multiple lawsuits “related to [a] potential going-private transaction” are still unresolved.
Between August and September 2018, nine shareholder class-action lawsuits were filed against Tesla and Musk in connection with his 420 tweet.
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