Musk Is on Trial Over His Tweets Ahead of Twitter Purchase

Elon Musk’s brief effort to back out of buying Twitter Inc. in 2022 is the focus of a trial that kicked off Monday over claims the world’s richest person manipulated the company’s stock price to get himself a better deal.

Musk eventually paid $44 billion for Twitter that fall, closing the buyout at the $54.20-per-share price he had originally agreed to six months earlier. But during the in-between months, a group of investors allege, Musk publicly attacked the company in a ruse to drive down its market value and benefit himself at their expense.