Why is Elon Musk being sued by Tesla shareholders?

Billionaire may take the stand as he defends infamous 2018 tweet

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk speaks beside a Tesla vehicle at a manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. AP

Elon Musk is on trial in San Francisco, California, where investors are suing the Tesla chief executive for financial losses they suffered following some now infamous tweets.

What is the case about?

Mr Musk is accused of securities fraud for tweets he posted in 2018 in which he claimed he was preparing to take Tesla private through a $72 billion buyout.

“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” a tweet from August 7, 2018, reads.

He doubled down on the comment with follow-up comments that made a deal seem imminent, though no deal ever took place.

Investors - represented by Tesla investor Greg Littleton - who traded in the wake of the tweets accuse Mr Musk of misleading shareholders, leading them to lose millions of dollars during the ups and downs the stock experienced in the days following.

Are these cases common?

Many shareholders sue companies and individuals for securities fraud when they suffer losses.

However, accusations do not often make it to court, as most defendants settle or courts dismiss the cases, making this securities fraud trial relatively rare.

Nine members of a jury in San Francisco will decide if Mr Musk's Twitter posts led to increase Tesla's share price upon the news of funding for a private deal.

Will Mr Musk take the stand?

The former world's richest person is on the witness list for both sides in the trial and could take the stand, The Associated Press reported.

It is not the first time the billionaire has taken the stand, as he testified under oath during court proceedings about his Tesla pay package.

Elon Musk over the years — in pictures

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  Jared Kushner and Elon Musk watch the Fifa World Cup final match between Argentina and France. Getty Images

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  Mr Musk attends model and businesswoman Heidi Klum's 2022 Halloween party at Moxy Lower East Side, in New York City Getty

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  Mr Musk on stage next to Optimus the humanoid robot in Palo Alto, California, in September 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing 'Cyber Rodeo' grand opening party, in Austin, Texas, in 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk shakes hands with Brazil's then president Jair Bolsonaro, at the event Conecta Amazonia in Porto Feliz, Sao Paulo state, in 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk and his mother, Maye Musk, arrive for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk attends the start of the production at Tesla's Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2022 AFP

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  Mikey Day as a lawyer, Cecily Strong as a judge, and host Mr Musk as Wario during the 'Wario' sketch on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', in 2021 Getty

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  Mr Musk and son X Æ A-12 onstage at 'Time' Person of the Year in New York, in 2021 AFP

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  Mr Musk dancing onstage during a delivery event for Tesla's China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai, in 2021 Reuters

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  Mr Musk with Armin Laschet, at the time CDU party federal chairman and prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, at the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2021 Getty

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  Mr Musk at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, in 2020 EPA

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  Mr Musk leaves a New York court in 2019, after a hearing in a lawsuit brought against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission Getty

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  A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2019 Reuters

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  Mr Musk and then partner Grimes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in 2018 AFP

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  From left, Mr Musk, Corning chief executive Wendell Weeks, then US president Donald Trump and Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky at the White House, in 2017 AFP

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  Mr Musk presents his plan to colonise Mars at the International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016 EPA

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  Mr Musk with then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe after a test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D in Palo Alto, California, in 2015 Reuters

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  Mr Musk with then wife Talulah Riley at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in London Getty

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  Mr Musk after Tesla's initial public offering at the Nasdaq market in New York, in 2010 Reuters

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  Then US president Barack Obama with Mr Musk on a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2010 Reuters

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  Mr Musk in the Tesla Roadster electric car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, in 2009 Reuters

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  Mr Musk with music producer Quincy Jones at the Tesla Roadster launch party in 2008 AFP

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  Mr Musk answers questions about the new Tesla Model S all-electric car, at its unveiling in Hawthorne, California, in 2009 AFP

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  Elon Musk in Los Angeles in 2008. Getty

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  Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk in 2004 Getty