Musk Faces Shareholder Lawsuit Over Covert Twitter Stake Acquisition ⚖

Elon Musk, who covertly acquired a significant stake in Twitter Inc. in early 2022 before purchasing the entire company, is alleged to have done so with help from a Morgan Stanley banker. A shareholder lawsuit claims the banker advised Musk on strategies to avoid alerting the market, allowing him to accumulate more than 9% of Twitter without causing a stock price increase. The Oklahoma public pension fund behind the lawsuit argues that Musk’s actions kept Twitter’s share price down until his ownership stake became public, at which point the price surged. The lawsuit claims Morgan Stanley earned nearly $1.5 million in commissions. Musk contended last year that the suit should be dismissed, but some claims are proceeding. Musk’s stock purchases are also under investigation by the US SEC. The case is Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System v. Musk, 22-cv-03026, in the US District Court, Southern District of New York.