2023-06-01 19:30:23
In a class action lawsuit, investors have accused Tesla CEO Elon Musk of manipulating the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, costing them billions of dollars.
In the filing, filed Wednesday night in Manhattan federal court, the investors said Musk used Twitter feeds, paid online influencers, his 2021 appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and other “publicity gimmicks” to get his trade. He makes profits at their expense in a number of Dogecoin wallets controlled by him or Tesla.
Investors said this included selling a Dogecoin catcher of about $124 million in April after he swapped the blue bird logo on Twitter for a Shiba Inu Dogecoin, resulting in a 30 percent jump in Dogecoin’s price. Musk bought Twitter last October.
The filing states that “a deliberate approach of publicity stunts, market manipulation and insider trading” enabled Musk to defraud investors and promote himself and his companies.
Investors accused Musk, the second richest person in the world according to Forbes magazine, of deliberately raising the price of Dogecoin by more than 36,000 percent over two years and then letting it crash.
The investors included their latest accusations in a proposed third, amended complaint, in a lawsuit that began in June.
Musk and Tesla had sought in March to dismiss the second amended complaint, and on May 26, said there was no justification for another amendment.
In an order issued on Wednesday, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said he would “probably” approve the third amended complaint.
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