Elon Musk and his electric vehicle company, Tesla, have successfully had a lawsuit dismissed that accused them of manipulating the price of Dogecoin, leading to $258 billion in alleged damages.
The case was thrown out on August 29 by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York. In his ruling, Judge Hellerstein stated that the defendants, including Musk, made various “material misrepresentations” in tweets about Dogecoin. Among these tweets, Musk claimed he would become the official CEO of Dogecoin and suggested that he might place a “literal” Dogecoin on a SpaceX vehicle and send it to the moon.
Judge Hellerstein characterized these statements as “aspirational and puffery, not factual,” and noted that “no reasonable investor” would have relied on them for sound investment advice.
The lawsuit, filed by a group of disgruntled Dogecoin investors in June 2022, sought $258 billion in damages from Musk and Tesla. Despite the high-profile nature of the case, the court’s decision underscores the challenges of holding public figures legally accountable for their statements on social media.
