Musk: "San Fran is Hostile to Me... Trial Should Be in Texas"

Claims That Negative Bias from Local Media and Political Circles Adversely Affects Jurors

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has requested the court to hold the fraud lawsuit trial filed by shareholders not in San Francisco, California, which is hostile to him, but in Texas.

On the 7th (local time), Bloomberg reported that Musk demanded this, stating that the San Francisco jury and local media are hostile to him, making it impossible to receive a fair trial. The trial is scheduled for the 17th.

Through his attorneys, Musk submitted a request to the San Francisco Federal District Court the previous night, mentioning that "a significant portion of the San Francisco jury pool is likely to have personal biases due to recent layoffs at one of Musk's companies." This concern arose from the increased negative perception in the area following the large-scale layoffs after the acquisition of Twitter last fall. Not only the jurors themselves but also their acquaintances and relatives might have been affected by the layoffs.

Musk's side argued that the negative portrayals by San Francisco local media and political circles have fueled these biases. Musk's legal team stated, "There is a much higher likelihood of a fair trial at the Western District Federal Court of Texas," adding, "Unlike San Francisco, that area has never been subject to excessive and inflammatory media coverage." Earlier, in December 2021, Musk moved Tesla's headquarters from Northern California to Austin, Texas. However, according to Bloomberg, Tesla still employs 47,000 people in California.

Previously, in August 2018, Musk was sued in a class action lawsuit for causing billions of dollars in losses to shareholders after posting on his personal Twitter that he would take Tesla private and delist it. Musk rebutted, claiming he was not deceiving shareholders, stating that he had been promised funding for the privatization by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund but was blindsided.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.