Elon Musk believed he was doing the right thing over his 2018 tweet claiming that funding had been secured for Tesla Inc (NASDAQ.TSLA), he stated in defense of a lawsuit brought forward by investors who claimed to have lost.
Musk stated that he had no ill motive and said he wanted to do the right thing for shareholders while testifying before a San Francisco court Tuesday.
He claimed that funding was not an issue in his final decision to not wholly buyout the firm. Instead, he argued that he wanted “to be responsive” to shareholders’ wishes that Tesla remain listed.
According to documents, Musk worked with Goldman Sachs, NYSE:GS, on the proposal. However, he acknowledged that no binding agreement had been reached.
Musk is facing a lawsuit after he claimed in 2018 that he had US$72bn of funding to take Tesla private.
Musk is accused of fraud and trying to artificially increase the share price by claiming that shareholders have lost millions.
Tesla shares plummeted and then rose by around 11% following his tweet. The US Securities and Exchange Commission fined Tesla and Musk US$40mln each and forced him to resign as chairman.