Musk sued by Twitter investors for stock 'manipulation' during takeover bid

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk's twitter account is seen on a smartphone in front of the Twitter logo in this photo illustration taken, April 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk was sued by Twitter Inc investors claiming he manipulated the company's stock price downward, as the chief executive of electric carmaker Tesla Inc mounts a $44 billion takeover bid for the social media platform.

The investors said Musk saved himself $156 million by failing to disclose that he had purchased more than 5% of Twitter by March 14. They asked to be certified as a class and to be awarded an unspecified amount of punitive and compensatory damages.