The San Franciso jury on Friday gave clean chit to Tesla founder Elon Musk over "funding secured" tweet to take the company private.
The US jury observed that he was "not liable" for the losses incurred by investors after his tweet. Nine jurors delivered the verdict on the tweet.
"Thank goodness, the wisdom of the people has prevailed! I am deeply appreciative of the jury’s unanimous finding of innocence in the Tesla 420 take-private case," Musk tweeted after the verdict.
The verdict allows Musk to claim vindication for a dark period in his professional life when Tesla was struggling to increase production, New York Times reported.
In 2018 August, Musk had tweeted that "Am considering taking Tesla private at USD 420. Funding secured." He had also tweeted that "investor support is confirmed."
Investors sued Musk, Tesla and the company board immediately after the tweet. They had argued that the CEO of Twitter's statement regarding the plan to take the electric car company private had incurred devastating financial losses for them.
Initially Musk wanted the trial moved to Texas, where Tesla is based, he had argued that he could not get a fair trial in San Franciso.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission also sued Musk over the tweet accusing him of lying to the investors. Later, Musk agreed to step aside as Tesla board chairman and a settlement of $20 billion was given.
During the three week trial, Musk argued that he had received verbal commitment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund for the deal.
"Just because I tweet something does not mean people believe it or will act accordingly," Musk had said. Tesla's share prices shot up after Musk's tweet.
Nicholas Porritt, a lawyer for the Tesla shareholders, argued that the society is based on rules and it saves us from anarchy.
"We are disappointed with the verdict and will be considering next steps," Porritt said after the verdict.
