Tesla shareholders argued it would be unfair to move the trial to Texas, as requested by Musk, who has outraged many in northern California with the drastic job cuts he ordered at Twitter, a San Francisco company he bought in October .
“What they call ‘biased’ reporting is actually factual reporting of his management Twitterand will not affect the jury’s ability to reach a fair verdict,” the shareholders’ court filing said.
musk‘s attorneys moved Jan. 6 that the federal judge delay the trial or move it to Texas due to media coverage TwitterThe job cuts are “inflammatory” compared to the balanced reporting of layoffs at other companies in the city lyft.
Videos of an audience booing Musk during a surprise appearance at a Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco in December circulated online. “It sounds like some of the people you fired are in the audience,” the comedian said in the clip.
Musk later admitted there were “a lot of boos,” adding in a now-deleted tweet, “It’s almost like I insulted SF’s crazy leftists… but nope.”
Tesla moved its headquarters from the San Francisco area to Texas in 2021.
The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 17 and will include testimony from Musk about his behind-the-scenes efforts in 2018 to secure funding for the electric-vehicle maker’s buyout.
The judge will hear arguments on the requested venue change on Friday.
Shareholders accuse Musk of causing billions of dollars in losses to investors through false and misleading statements in order to artificially inflate the share price. Musk tweeted in August 2018 that he had “secured the funding” to take Tesla private, sparking 10 days of volatile trading in its stocks, bonds and options.
The defendants, which include Tesla and its then board of directors, will argue that Musk did not materially mislead investors. Musk had met Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, on multiple occasions, the court filings said, which also said Al-Rumayyan had urged Musk to take Tesla private and offered him up to $60 billion ( about Rs 4,90,290 crore) in support.
According to court documents, Al-Rumayyan is among the witnesses expected to testify alongside Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison and James Murdoch, son of Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch.
US District Court Judge Edward Chen found in May that the 2018 tweets were untrue and inconsiderate. The jury will determine whether the comments actually impacted Tesla’s stock prices, whether Musk acted intentionally, and whether and how much damages will be awarded.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
