Judge Charles Breyer has denied Elon Musk’s post-trial motions seeking to set aside a jury verdict that found him liable for securities fraud.
The ruling opens with a pointed line that sets the tone for the 38 pages that follow: “Buyer’s remorse is not an exception to the securities laws.”
A jury found in March that Musk defrauded Twitter shareholders during a turbulent period in May 2022, when his $44 billion acquisition plan was thrown into uncertainty.
Musk had publicly posted that his plan to acquire Twitter was “temporarily on hold,” citing concerns about the number of bots on the platform.
The bot issue was particularly notable given that it had been one of Musk’s original stated justifications for pursuing the acquisition in the first place.
Judge Breyer’s ruling rejected substantially all of the motions Musk brought in the wake of the jury’s decision, leaving the fraud finding firmly intact.
The case centred on whether Musk’s public statements during May 2022 caused harm to Twitter shareholders who were left uncertain about the future of the proposed deal.
A subsequent lawsuit by Twitter pressured Musk into completing the transaction, which he ultimately did, later transforming the microblogging platform significantly.
Musk, who at the time of the verdict was described as no longer quite a trillionaire, had sought various routes to sidestep the jury’s conclusions through post-trial legal manoeuvring.
The judge’s opening line signalled the court’s scepticism toward Musk’s arguments before a single substantive motion had even been addressed in the order.
The ruling is a significant moment in the legal fallout from one of the most high-profile and chaotic corporate acquisitions in recent memory.
It reinforces that public statements made by executives during active deal negotiations can carry serious legal consequences under securities law, regardless of the outcome of the deal itself.