U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco rejected Elon Musk’s request to overturn a jury verdict that found he had deceived Twitter investors by attempting to lower the company’s stock price after agreeing to a $44 billion acquisition deal.

The jury found Musk guilty of manipulation over two tweets he posted on May 13 and May 17, 2022, questioning whether Twitter suffered from widespread bot and spam accounts. The May 13 tweet said the purchase was 'on hold' pending details on the proportion of fake accounts, while the May 17 tweet suggested the deal 'cannot move forward' until Twitter's CEO proved the number was below 5%.

Judge Breyer wrote in his ruling: 'Even if a speaker changes his mind or feels temporary regret about a deal, these concerns do not justify lying to investors.'

The judge found 'substantial evidence of falsity' in the May 13 tweet, noting that 'the jury could infer that Musk had a motive to back out of the deal and used fake and spam accounts as a pretext.' However, he agreed to absolve Musk of responsibility for the May 17 tweet, as no market reaction was recorded.

Investors said the first tweet caused Twitter’s stock price to drop 18% over two trading days, causing heavy losses when they sold shares at low prices. Following the March 20 verdict, investors’ lawyers estimated total damages could reach about $2.5 billion.

No comment has been issued yet from Musk’s lawyers or the investors’ lawyers on this decision.

In a related matter, Musk faces a lawsuit in Manhattan accusing him of defrauding Twitter investors by delaying disclosure of his initial investment in the company, allowing him to buy shares at low prices before they later rose. Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter and renamed it 'X,' which is now linked to SpaceX.