Elon Musk’s trial just got underway, and what prospective jurors were saying about him inside the courtroom left his own attorney speechless

Jury selection for the investor class action trial against Elon Musk, linked to his 2022 acquisition of X, has wrapped up in San Francisco federal court. After more than five hours of questioning, nine jurors were seated, all claiming they can be fair and impartial despite holding strong opinions about Musk. Judge Charles R. Breyer of the US District Court for the Northern District of California acknowledged that finding jurors with no views on Musk would be nearly impossible.

According to Bloomberg Law, he compared Musk to the President of the United States, saying, “As a public figure he will excite strong views, and for him in particular, people have strong views.” The real question, Breyer explained, is whether jurors can set those feelings aside and focus on the facts.

Musk’s attorney, Stephen Broome of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, objected to several prospective jurors who claimed impartiality despite expressing negative views. Broome said, “We have so many people in the venire who hate him so much that we’re becoming desensitized,” adding that in any other case, a juror who admitted hating the defendant would be dismissed immediately.

Strong public sentiment made it unusually difficult to seat a fair jury

Nearly 40 prospective jurors were dismissed after admitting they could not set aside their biases. One man stated in his questionnaire that he would have a “moral obligation” to convict Musk and send him to prison if it were a criminal trial.

Judge Breyer also dismissed a juror who had written they disagreed “with the existence of billionaires,” and another woman was let go after her questionnaire revealed she hated how Musk fired content moderators after taking over X. Musk has also been at the center of other legal controversies lately, including promising to cover lawsuit costs for Epstein truth-tellers after his name appeared in recent document releases.

Not all the strong feelings were negative. One woman who was eliminated called Musk a “brilliant scientist” and believed he had done a lot to help humanity. However, even her positive bias was considered a problem by the investors’ attorney, Aaron Arnzen, and she herself admitted she would be nervous if she were representing the investors with her on the jury.

The trial centers on claims that Musk violated securities law. Investors allege he publicly went back and forth on his decision to purchase X as a tactic to drive down the company’s stock price and gain more leverage in negotiations. Musk first became X’s largest shareholder in early 2022, then offered to buy the entire company for $54.20 per share, totaling $44 billion, in April. He later tried to back out, which sparked lawsuits, before completing the acquisition in October 2022.

This is not the first time Musk has faced an investor lawsuit over his public statements. In 2018, he faced a similar case in the same San Francisco federal court over a tweet claiming he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private.

That case went to trial in 2023, and a jury cleared him of all claims. Beyond legal battles, Musk’s business decisions have also drawn global attention, such as his controversial Starlink access cut affecting Russian forces on the battlefield. Opening statements are set for March 2, and the trial is expected to last about three weeks. Live testimony from Musk himself, as well as former X CEO Parag Agrawal, is anticipated.