Elon Musk wins $13 billion lawsuit
A Delaware judge ruled that Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not unfairly get rich when he directed the electric car maker in 2016 to take over SolarCity, of which Musk was its chairman and largest shareholder.
Tesla shareholders accuse Musk of forcing the board of directors to buy SolarCity, which was a troubled rooftop solar panel maker, to save his investment.
They sought damages of up to $13 billion.
The ruling comes at a time when Musk is using his vast fortune to acquire Twitter, which accepted his $44 billion offer.
It also came on the heels of another court ruling earlier in the day rejecting an effort by Musk to end oversight of his tweets about Tesla.
"The compelling evidence reveals that Tesla paid a fair price. SolarCity was worth, at least, what Tesla paid for it, and the acquisition was very beneficial to Tesla," said Judge Joseph Slates.
The judgment can be appealed.
A lawyer for the shareholders said he is assessing possible next steps.
The verdict follows a 10-day trial in July, during which Musk testified over nearly two full days.
The value of the deal, which included the purchase of all of the company's shares, was $2.6 billion in 2016.
Musk, the world's richest man with a fortune estimated at $265.6 billion according to Forbes magazine, owned about 22% of both companies at the time.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news