Musk and Tesla won the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing them of manipulating Dogecoin and engaging in insider trading

According to Reuters, Elon Musk and his electric vehicle company Tesla (TSLA.O) successfully won a dismissal of a federal lawsuit accusing them of defrauding investors by exaggerating the value of Dogecoin and engaging in insider trading, causing billions of dollars in losses. The ruling was issued on Thursday night by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan. Investors accused the world's richest man of using Twitter posts, appearances on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in 2021, and other promotional gimmicks to profit from trades at the expense of investors through multiple Dogecoin wallets controlled by him or Tesla. They also claimed that Musk deliberately inflated the price of Dogecoin by over 36,000% within two years before letting it plummet while he and Tesla often arranged trade times based on Musk's public statements and activities about Dogecoin.

However, Hellerstein stated that Musk’s tweets about “Dogecoin being the currency of Earth’s future, usable for purchasing Teslas or being sent to the moon by his company SpaceX” were “idealized and exaggerated; not factual nor easily falsifiable,” meaning any rational investor could not rely on these tweets to bring securities fraud lawsuits hence they "cannot comprehend" market manipulation and insider trading allegations raised by investors. Hellerstein dismissed this lawsuit with prejudice which means it cannot be brought up again. Initially seeking $258 billion in damages, investors amended their complaint four times within two years.

In seeking dismissal of the suit, Musk's lawyers said there was nothing wrong with his "harmless yet often foolish tweets." They also argued there is no evidence showing that Musk owned two wallets for suspicious transactions or proof that he or Tesla ever sold any Dogecoins.