'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.' Why is Musk on trial? Billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk is facing claims he misled investors over a tweet he sent in 2018 in which he said he was considering taking electric car company Tesla private In the now-infamous post, he told followers Tesla shares would be sold for $420 - a figure which is common code for marijuana use The post caused Tesla's stock price to skyrocket then promptly fall when it became clear the deal wasn't happening - causing investors to lose millions Prosecutors say the declaration that the funding was 'secured' was misleading as no deal had been approved Musk's lawyers must prove the tweets did not damage Tesla shareholders Advertisement 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 Californian police. Musk is facing a class action lawsuit filed by Tesla investors who allege he misled them with the 2018 tweet as the deal never came close to happening. The post read: 'Am considering taking Tesla private for $420. Funding secured.' Musk followed up a few hours later with another tweet suggesting a deal was imminent. The move plunged Tesla into chaos, prompting its stock price to skyrocket before dropping sharply when it became clear the buyout would not materialize. Musk was swiftly forced to forfeit his position as Tesla's executive chairman and pay millions of dollars in fines and legal fees. His claim that the funding for the private move was already 'secured' was pinpointed as specifically misleading. However the entrepreneur, who now owns Twitter, testified today that he genuinely believed he had locked up the financial backing to take Tesla private. The deal had been done with representatives from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund - though no specific amount or price was discussed, Musk said. He accused those involved in the fund of 'backpedaling'. Musk insisted in court that he believed he had the financial backing to take Tesla private The trial hinges on the question of whether a pair of tweets that Musk posted on Aug. 7, 2018, damaged Tesla shareholders during a 10-day period leading up to Musk's admission that the buyout he had envisioned wasn´t going to happen. On Friday, Musk - who is notoriously combative on the stand - told the court that his tweets have little influence on Tesla's stock price. He pointed to an incident in May of 2020 when he tweeted that 'Tesla stock price is too high.' The stock price dropped the day of his tweet but recovered and closed the year higher than it had opened. But lead plaintiff Glen Littleton says the $420 tweet caused him to lose more than 75 percent of his investments. The case is centered around a tweet Musk sent in August 2018 where he claimed the funding was 'secured' for a deal to take Tesla private Musk's attorney Alex Spiro has argued that the CEO's word choice was clumsy but it was no deliberate fraud. Spiro said: 'In his rushed, reckless state he tweeted the wrong word choice. 'In his mind funding wasn't an issue, it was secured. Musk, pictured in Norway in August 2022, was forced to resign as Tesla chief executive over the post 'But what he said in that tweet was 'funding secured' without elaborating what that meant to him.' Shares of Tesla climbed $8.76. or 6.6%, to $142.18 on Monday as Musk's testimony was underway. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility