This Could Stop Musk Pumping Tesla Stock

It has a slim chance, but it really could.

Photo by Paul Steuber on Unsplash

By now, most of us are tired of Elon’s grift. He lies and exaggerates like a child to make himself and his company seem remarkable, all in hopes of attracting more attention, investment and customers. Then he pushes his engineers to try to make the impossible happen. Unsurprisingly, they almost always can’t, because Musk’s lies are so far-fetched, meaning that he almost always fails to deliver. But to distract from that, Musk winds up another magnificent lie, and the cycle continues. I mean, with Tesla alone, we have already seen the Boring Company, Hyperloop, FSD, putting a million Robotaxis on the road by 2020, the New Roadster, the Cybertruck, the Model 2, the Tesla Semi, the Optimus bot, and God knows how many more broken promises we have all forgotten. I mean, remember when Musk said that a Model 3 would be an appreciating asset? But one lawsuit could stop this grift in its place.

This is a class action lawsuit of Tesla investors, who believe they bought Tesla stock at artificially inflated prices between April 19, 2023, and June 22, 2025, and want compensation for their losses. I know, boo hoo, Tesla investors losing money, who cares? But their losses could be huge, because they have receipts.

They claim that Musk, along with other Tesla executives, repeatedly made false and misleading claims about Tesla’s self-driving capabilities, not just to the public but also in their SEC filings. If you want to know why Tesla’s self-driving system, also known as FSD, sucks beyond belief and is wildly dangerous, read my previous article here. Effectively, they accuse Musk and these executives of hiding data that highlighted significant issues with FSD, hugely exaggerating its capabilities, and failing to discuss the risks associated with the system, such as its proclivity to drive illegally and dangerously. They say this drove unfounded interest in Tesla, artificially boosting its share price.

Then, Tesla rolled out its trial Robotaxi service in Austin this June, and spectators recorded the vehicles breaking traffic laws and driving incredibly dangerously multiple times a day. This was the moment these investors realised they had been duped; the technology they believed they were investing in did not exist. Because many of these investors had bought at previous peaks, this means they have lost significant sums of money due to Musk’s manipulations.

Despite this class action lawsuit against them, Tesla is still pushing the same old falsehoods. Musk and Tesla have been touting that their Robotaxi service is expanding into California, despite the fact that their permits only cover traditional limo rides with driver assistance technology — in other words, the same service if an Uber driver bought a Tesla and used FSD. It isn’t a robotaxi; it isn’t self-driving. There is still a person in charge of the vehicle. This kind of distinction matters, not just for regulators, but for insurance, investors and the general public too.

This is marketing over substance to artificially drive up share prices, and it is working. Despite Tesla’s sales falling across the globe and the Robotaxi rollout being an utter embarrassment, Tesla’s stock has continued to climb for no tangible reason.

So, does this class action lawsuit stand a chance at holding Musk accountable for his unethical manipulations?

Sadly, only a very slim chance.

For one, as of writing, the Tesla stock is higher than it was during the claimant’s period, so, even though this current price is obviously artificially inflated, you can argue that they only lost money because they sold too quickly. Secondly, there was plenty of public information that FSD was a shit show. There have been countless internal whistleblowers, third-party data studies, DoJ investigations, journalists, engineers, road safety organisations, and public safety organisations desperately trying to warn people of how dangerous FSD has been since well before the claim period. Their argument that they didn’t know FSD was a faulty technology is weak.

However, for Tesla to use these arguments against the claimants, they must agree in court that FSD is faulty and hope that Tesla’s infamously volatile stock remains high until they reach court. They might also have to try to prove that the current stock price, no matter what it is, isn’t inflated, which is pretty damn hard considering the current bogus and painfully obvious manipulative marketing around the Robotaxi. Let’s also not forget that this class action lawsuit alleges that Tesla lied to the SEC, which is a far more serious accusation than simply “He lied to me, and I lost money”.

So, this lawsuit is far from dead on arrival. It has a chance of landing a hard blow to Tesla.

And what a blow it would be. While class action cases do not set a legal precedent, they make future class action lawsuits for a similar action far easier to win. After all, those buying Tesla stocks today will be able to point to the misinformation Musk and Tesla are spreading about the non-existent Robotaxi rollout. So, if this wins, it will effectively stop the wildly unethical way Musk has been pumping Tesla stock by making it unviable, either by drowning him in class-action lawsuits or in bad publicity.

Sadly, though, even watertight lawsuits against juggernauts like Tesla rarely win. Just look at the number of failed wrongful death lawsuits against Tesla for deaths caused by Autopilot and FSD. Even the ones that win get appealed or buried, or Tesla finds a way to limit the damages that can be levied against them. Holding such powerful players to account is nearly impossible. That is why Musk can act so unethically and get away with it — he has a legal army to ensure accountability never reaches him.

Ultimately, I’m not holding my breath. I see this as being symbolic of the backlash against Musk, even from those who backed him when his fascist leanings became apparent. That in itself is a huge deal. It shows that more and more people are growing wise to Musk’s grift, and that alone could put an end to it. After all, he can’t pump stock if no one believes his lies. But the fact that this provides a slim chance of legally ending this mess is a beautiful cherry on the cake.

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Sources: Finimize, Reuters, Tipranks, Will Lockett