'420 price was not a joke': trends now
Billionaire Elon Musk was forced to deny his infamous tweet selling Tesla shares for $420 was a joke about pot as he stood trial for misleading investors.
Musk hit headlines in 2018 when he claimed on Twitter he was considering taking the electric car company private and that he already had the funding secured.
Skeptics had raised eyebrows at the 420 figure as it is popular street code for marijuana, dating back to the 1970s.
Court sketching captures Elon Musk defending claims he misled investors with 2018 tweet claiming Tesla might go private, with shares selling for $420 a piece
Musk insisted '$420 was not a joke', claiming the figure was a 'coincidence' rather than a nod to marijuana use
But taking to the stand in San Francisco on Monday, Musk categorically denied the tweet had been an inside joke for pot enthusiasts and said the number was a 'coincidence'.
It represented the stock price at the time plus a 20 percent premium, he claimed.
The 51-year-old Twitter owner told the federal court: '420 was not a joke. There is some karma around 420 although I should question if that is good or bad karma at this point.'
Nicholas Porritt, a lawyer representing Tesla shareholders, had explicitly asked Musk if he chose the 420 figure 'because it was a joke your girlfriend enjoys.'
It is not known why 420 became common slang for pot, though many theories exist including one claiming the figure was historically used as a radio shortcut for the drug by
