A proposed class action lawsuit accuses the Tesla CEO of using Twitter, paid influencers, and his TV appearance to boost the meme cryptocurrency DOGE for personal gain.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is facing a $258 billion lawsuit from investors who claim he manipulated the price of Dogecoin, a popular meme-based cryptocurrency, through various means, including his tweets, his appearance on Saturday Night Live and other publicity stunts.
According to a court filing on Wednesday, the investors allege that Musk engaged in a “deliberate course of carnival barking, market manipulation, and insider trading” that enabled him to defraud them and promote himself and his companies.
One of the incidents cited in the filing was when Musk sold about $124 million worth of Dogecoin in April after he replaced Twitter’s blue bird logo with Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu dog logo, causing a 30% surge in Dogecoin’s value.
In April 2022, Musk acquired Twitter.
The investors claim that Musk’s actions have resulted in substantial losses, costing them billions of dollars. In addition, he is accused of using paid online influencers to hype up Dogecoin and influence its price.
The lawsuit is the third amendment to an existing complaint originally filed last June. Musk and his companies have previously sought to dismiss the case, calling it a “fanciful work of fiction” and a “work of art.”
Musk’s lawyers have argued that his tweets about Dogecoin were harmless, occasionally nonsensical, and did not comprise deception or fraud. They have also maintained that the investors have not presented any evidence of Musk’s intent to deceive or conceal risks.
The US district judge, Alvin Hellerstein, said he would “likely” allow the third amended complaint, saying the defendants would not likely be prejudiced.
He also granted the investors’ request to dismiss the non-profit Dogecoin Foundation as a defendant.
Dogecoin has gained popularity among online communities and celebrities, including Musk, who has often tweeted about it and called it his “favorite” cryptocurrency.
Dogecoin’s price has soared more than 36,000% over two years, reaching an all-time high of nearly $0.74 in May 2023.
However, it has also experienced significant volatility and crashes, dropping to around $0.20 as of June 2, 2023.
Musk’s legal team maintained that the investors had failed to provide any proof of his intent to deceive or conceal risks.