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ARCHIVE - Elon Musk attends the NCAA wrestling championship final in Philadelphia. Musk is facing a civil lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP/dpa/archived image
Keystone
A US court in Texas has ruled: Elon Musk must stand trial on fraud and breach of contract charges. At the center of the case is an alleged million-dollar prize game shortly before the 2024 presidential election.
On Wednesday (local time), US federal judge Robert Pitman upheld a lawsuit accusing Musk of defrauding voters with a sweepstake before last November's presidential election.
The plaintiff Jacqueline McAferty had credibly argued that she had no real chance of winning one million dollars, according to the court ruling. Musk wanted to obtain a dismissal of the lawsuit before the court in Austin.
A few weeks before the election, Musk had announced that he would be giving away one million dollars every day until then among those who sign a petition from his organization "America PAC".
Musk - the richest man in the world - financed the election campaign of current President Donald Trump with more than 250 million US dollars and became a confidant of the Republican. After his election victory, the two worked closely together for months until they publicly fell out.
The dispute was sparked by a tax and budget bill pushed forward by Trump, which Musk opposed.
The entrepreneur tried to have the lawsuit dismissed - without success. Musk now has to defend himself against the allegations in a civil lawsuit. A date for the main hearing has yet to be set.
21.08.2025, 09:36
21.08.2025, 09:54
