Commercial law – United States – securities regulation – fraud and liability in corporate acquisitions and public statements

A federal jury in San Francisco has found Elon Musk liable for securities fraud after determining that he made false statements on social media in 2022 that artificially depressed Twitter’s stock price, enabling him to attempt to renegotiate or potentially abandon his $44 billion acquisition of the company. The verdict, delivered on March 20, 2026,…