A federal judge in San Francisco reportedly spent more than five hours Thursday trying to seat a jury in Elon Musk’s upcoming investor class action trial, as prospective jurors acknowledged strong negative views toward the billionaire entrepreneur.
From a pool of 93, only nine jurors were selected after extensive questioning about whether they could put aside personal opinions about Musk, according to Bloomberg Law.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said finding people with no opinion about Musk — known for leading X, Tesla and SpaceX — would be nearly impossible.
“He’s like the president of the United States, I could search the entire country,” Breyer said. “As a public figure, he will excite strong views, and for him in particular, people have strong views.”
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Nearly 40 prospective jurors were quickly dismissed after saying they could not remain impartial, Bloomberg Law reported.
One said he disagrees “with the existence of billionaires.”
Another said she hated Musk’s decision to fire content moderators after taking over Twitter.
A third said that if the case were criminal, he would feel a “moral obligation” to convict Musk.
All were excused, according to Bloomberg Law.
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Musk’s attorney, Stephen Broome, of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, noted that the hostility was widespread.
“We have so many people in the venire who hate him so much that we’re becoming desensitized,” Broome said.
However, not all of the strong opinions were negative toward Musk.
One prospective juror described him as a “brilliant scientist” who has helped humanity. She was also dismissed, according to the news outlet.
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By the end of the day Thursday, jurors including a salesperson, a mechanical engineer and a university IT worker, had been selected.
The trial, scheduled to begin March 2, centers on investor claims that Musk violated securities law in 2022 by publicly wavering on his agreement to buy Twitter, allegedly driving down the company’s stock price during negotiations.
Musk may testify during the roughly three-week trial, as well as former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.
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Musk could not be reached for comment.
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