by
Nathan
Laine/Bloomberg
via
Getty
Images)
Elon
Musk,
perpetual
proof
that
money
can’t
unlame
you,
took
a
loss
in
court
last
week.
Nowadays,
it
is
easy
to
say
that
his
purchase
of
the
company
formerly
(and
currently)
known
as
Twitter
at
an
above-market
cost
so
he
could
make
a
420
joke
in
the
hopes
that
his
then
girlfriend
would
find
it
funny
was
dumb.
It
was
easy
to
say
so
back
then
too,
but
I
digress.
A
lawsuit
alleging
that
Musk
misled
Twitter
investors
resolved
after
years
of
litigation.
And
while
the
jury
did
find
that
he
was
not
guilty
of
a
greater
fraud
scheme,
the
outcome
was
not
entirely
in
his
favor.
CNBC
has
coverage:
A
jury
in
California
found
that
Elon
Musk
defrauded
shareholders
during
the
runup
to
his
$44
billion
acquisition
of
the
social
media
company,
according
to
a
verdict
issued
on
Friday.Total
damages
could
reach
up
to
$2.6
billion,
attorneys
for
the
plaintiffs
said.The
class
action
lawsuit,
Pampena
v.
Musk,
was
originally
filed
in
October
2022,
after
Musk
completed
his
purchase
of
for
$54.20
per
share.
…
“This
is
a
great
example
of
what
you
cannot
do
to
the
average
investor
—
people
that
have
401ks,
kids,
pension
funds,
teachers,
firemen,
nurses,”
Joseph
Cotchett,
an
attorney
for
the
investors,
told
CNBC
at
the
San
Francisco
courthouse.
Considering
he
was
clocked
at
over
~$800B
last
month,
they
could
round
up
the
damages
to
a
nice
$3B
(perhaps
to
make
his
ex
laugh)
and
it
would
still
be
a
rounding
error
compared
to
his
hoarded
wealth.
To
be
frank,
daily
fluctuations
in
the
market
will
probably
have
a
bigger
outcome
than
this
decision
—
Bloomberg’s
current
valuation
of
him
at
$641B
reads
less
like
“This
guy
lost
~$160B
in
a
month!”
and
more
like
“Hey,
we
all
have
rough
Mondays.”
And
before
any
poindexters
respond,
“Well
actually
most
of
the
wealth
is
locked
in
stock
so
it
isn’t
liquid,”
he
could
just
sell
some
of
his
shares.
Plenty
of
people
have
had
to
do
things
like
sell
their
homes
to
pay
off
legal
fees;
there’s
no
use
in
pretending
that
liquefying
your
assets
becomes
some
huge
burden
once
you
become
rich.
Further,
it
would
make
for
a
nice
full
circle
moment
given
that
he
sold
some
of
his
Tesla
shares
as
part
of
the
plan
to
buy
Twitter
back
in
2022.
Represented
by
Quinn
Emanuel,
Musk
intends
to
appeal
the
verdict.
And
good
on
them.
If
there’s
a
guy
you
should
be
cranking
billable
hours
out
of,
it’s
this
guy.
Elon
Musk
Misled
Twitter
Investors
Ahead
Of
$44
Billion
acquisition,
Jury
Says
[CNBC]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.