Closing arguments set to begin in Twitter shareholder trial accusing
Musk of driving down stock
[March 17, 2026] By
BARBARA ORTUTAY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Closing arguments are set to kick off Tuesday in a
trial pitting Elon Musk against Twitter shareholders who say the world's
richest man engaged in a pattern of deceptive behavior that misled
investors as he attempted to back out of his $44 billion deal to buy the
social media platform in 2022.
The civil trial in San Francisco centers on a class-action lawsuit filed
just before Musk took control of Twitter, which he later renamed X, in
October 2022, six months after agreeing to buy the embattled company for
$44 billion, or $54.20 per share. The price represents a sliver of the
Tesla CEO's fortune, now estimated at $839 billion.
Much of the trial focused on Musk's claims about the number of bots on
Twitter. Musk testified, as he long contended, that Twitter had a much
higher number of fake and spam accounts than the 5% it disclosed in
regulatory filings. He used what he called Twitter's misrepresentation
of the number of fake accounts on its service as a reason to retreat
from the purchase.
After Musk tried to back out, Twitter went to court in Delaware to force
him to honor his original deal. Just before that case was scheduled to
go to trial, Musk reversed course again and agreed to pay what he had
originally promised.
The problem of bots and fake accounts on Twitter wasn’t new at the time
Musk negotiated the deal. The company had paid $809.5 million in 2021 to
settle claims it was overstating its growth rate and monthly user
figures. Twitter also disclosed its bot estimates to the Securities and
Exchange Commission for years while also cautioning that its estimate
might be too low.
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Members of Elon Musk's legal team, including attorney Stephen
Broome, left, exit the Phillip Burton Federal Building after
representing Elon Musk, in San Francisco, Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
(Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
 But Musk claimed the number was much
higher, at least 20% according to some analysts. Saying the bot
number was at least this high was like “saying the grass is green or
the sky is blue,” Musk said.
Twitter’s former CFO Ned Segal disputed this claim and said on the
witness stand that the number was actually closer to 1%.
Asked if Twitter ever filed false filings to the SEC that misstated
its spam numbers, Segal said it did not. But he mentioned that the
company once restated its finances after it became aware of a
mistake in its calculation of daily users. In 2017, Twitter said it
had been overstating its monthly user numbers by mistake because it
was including users of a third-party app it should not have.
On Monday, the two sides met to go over instructions to the jury.
Judge Charles R. Breyer noted that many in the jury pool had
negative views on Musk. But, he added, a person who is “not
universally liked” still deserves a fair trial, and should not to be
treated in a discriminatory or prejudicial way.
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