- Elon Musk is expected to testify in a federal trial

that deals with tweets he sent in 2018,

regarding the possibility of taking Tesla private.

Elon Musk tweeted, "Am considering taking Tesla private

at 420, funding secured."

He later followed up saying,

Investor support is confirmed.

Only reason why this is not certain

is that it's contingent on a shareholder vote."

Tesla's stock price closed up about 11%

the day that Mr. Musk sent those tweets,

and it later gave back those gains and fell further.

- Thank you all for coming tonight, and I...

- The deal which would've been valued

at around $72 billion never materialized.

The plaintiff has alleged that Mr. Musk's tweets

were false material to investors

who relied upon them to make trading decisions,

and that this class of investors

lost billions of dollars as a result.

Attorneys presented opening statements

on January 18th, in the case.

An attorney for the defendants who include Mr. Musk,

Tesla, and members of the board at the time

described the tweets as,

'Shorthand, made in the heat of the moment

that didn't differ materially

from the situation at hand, even though,

in some cases, they may have been technically inaccurate."

(audience applauding)

The plaintiff is seeking damages

for investor losses

that Musk's tweets allegedly caused.

The plaintiff said in a trial brief,

"As a result of the turmoil

and the prices for Tesla stock, options, and bonds

caused by Musk in Tesla's statements,

investors lost billions of dollars

from August 7th, 2018 to August 17th, 2018.

The judge in this case has already ruled

that certain of Musk's statements were untrue.

That means that the key questions left for the jury

include whether those statements were material to investors,

and whether Musk knew that they were untrue.

Musk is expected to testify as soon as January 20th.

The witness lists indicate

that we may get to hear from Tesla executives

and current and former board members

about what was going on inside the company

at this incredibly interesting, chaotic time at Tesla.

The trial is expected to run for about three weeks,

through the beginning of February,

before being turned over to the jury to decide the verdict.

(tranquil music)