Once again the subject of billionaire Elon Musk's net worth has come up over the course of his ongoing defamation trial. This time, it was as a result of a direct question from L. Lin Wood, who is the attorney of British cave diver Vernon Unsworth. Musk infamously referred to Unsworth as "pedo guy" on Twitter during the Thai cave disaster that left a dozen children stranded underground.
Unsworth is seeking just $75,000 in damages over the tweet, but CNBC reports that Musk's net worth came into the proceedings after Wood asked him if the offending tweet had any impact on his own net worth. Musk stated he had "received concerned notes from shareholders," and by the end of his testimony, he was asked, despite objections from his own attorney, about his precise net worth.
Musk responded that he didn't know exactly how much he was worth, noting that the figure changes from day to day. He explained that most of his fortune is tied up in his companies, Tesla and SpaceX, and that he has little actual cash. When asked if $20 billion was a "reasonable estimate" of his net worth, Musk again said he didn't know but believed "SpaceX and Tesla stock probably amount to that."
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Regardless of Musk's net worth or cash on hand, it will be the jury's job to determine whether calling him "pedo guy" constitutes defamation and whether Unsworth suffered any damages as a result. Musk has apologized for the tweet, claiming in court that he did not intend it to be "taken literally." He characterized the tweet as a response to Unsworth's "unprovoked attack," which occurred after Unsworth led the successful rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach trapped in an underground cave in Thailand. Unsworth criticized Musk's contributions to the rescue efforts as a publicity stunt and stated in a CNN interview that Musk could "stick his submarine where it hurts."
Musk compared his own tweet to Unsworth's comments in court, stating, "I assume he literally didn't mean to sodomize me with a submarine. I literally didn't mean he was a pedophile."
Soon, it will be up to a jury to decide if that was truly the case and whether Musk should pay for it.
