Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, has been exonerated of wrongdoing after tweeting that he had “funding secured” to take the electric carmaker private.
Mr. Musk was the target of a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Tesla shareholders who claimed he misled them with his August 2018 posts.
The anticipated $72 billion (£60 billion) purchase never happened.
If a jury in San Francisco judged Mr. Musk guilty, he might have been sentenced to pay billions of dollars in damages.
On Friday afternoon, the nine jurors took less than two hours to reach a decision.
Mr. Musk, who had requested that the trial be transferred to Texas, where Tesla is based, claiming that he would not be able to have a fair trial in San Francisco, applauded the conclusion.
“Thank heavens, the wisdom of the people has won!” he wrote on Twitter, the social media platform he purchased for $44 billion last October.
Mr. Musk’s tweet on August 7, 2018, “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420,” was central to the complaint. “Funding has been secured.”
The plaintiffs also said Mr. Musk had misrepresented when he tweeted later in the day that “investor support is confirmed”.
The stock price rose following the tweets but plummeted within days when it became evident that the deal would not be completed.
According to an analyst engaged by the shareholders, investor losses might reach $12 billion.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Mr. Musk for his tweets, accusing him of misleading investors. Mr. Musk agreed to step down as Tesla’s board chairman in exchange for $20 million.
During the three-week trial, Mr. Musk, who also runs SpaceX and Twitter, claimed he received a verbal commitment for the sale from Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund.
Although Tesla’s stock price increased following the tweet, Mr. Musk questioned if his tweets had any effect on Tesla’s stock price.
