The Tesla boss caused a stir several times because of his tweets.
(Photo: AP)
new York A message from Tesla founder Elon Musk on the short message service Twitter in 2018 about the US automaker’s allegedly planned stock market withdrawal has further legal consequences. The largest US bank, JPMorgan, is suing the e-car manufacturer in federal court in Manhattan for breach of contract and misleading information, according to the filing of the lawsuit on Monday.
Tesla had concluded warrant transactions with the bank that obliged the company to pay out in shares or cash if the price was above the contractual exercise price when the warrants expired. Musk’s tweet significantly depressed the value of the warrants. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the market closed.
On August 7, 2018, Musk announced on Twitter that he wanted to take the company off the stock market for 72 billion dollars. The funding for this was secured, so Musk at the time. Later he rowed back. Investors’ class actions followed on suspicion of market manipulation, and the US stock exchange regulator also intervened.