Elon Musk, Tesla sued by shareholders over ‘misleading’ self-driving claims
Tesla chief Elon Musk
Shareholders of Tesla have sued CEO Elon Musk and the electric car-making company over “false and misleading” claims about the safety of their electric vehicles' Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies.
In a class action suit filed in San Francisco federal court on Monday, the shareholders have alleged that the company lied to them over four years by concealing how its technologies – suspected as a possible cause of multiple fatal crashes – “created a serious risk of accident and injury”.
They recalled when Tesla’s share price fell several times after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began probing the technologies, and reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Musk's Autopilot claims.
“As a result of defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the company’s common stock, plaintiff and other class members have suffered significant losses and damages,” the complaint said.
The suit seeks unspecified damages for Tesla shareholders from February 19, 2019, to February 17, 2023. Chief financial officer Zachary Kirkhorn and his predecessor Deepak Ahuja are also defendants.
On Monday, Tesla's share price rose up by $10.75 at the closing, or 5.5 per cent at $207.63, but the stock has lost about half its value since peaking in November 2021.
The world's second-richest person is expected at Tesla's March 1 investor day to promote the company's artificial intelligence capability and plans to expand its vehicle line-up.
This is not the first time that Musk was sued by the company’s shareholders. The tech billionaire was dragged to court over his 2018 tweets indicating that he would take Tesla private. The shareholders said that the tweets cost them millions of dollars. Earlier this month, the court had ruled in favour of Musk.
In another lawsuit continuing this week, shareholders claimed that they received “misleading” information that led them to approve an exorbitant pay package for the billionaire.
(With inputs from agencies)
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