Elon Musk returns to court to defend Tesla’s SolarCity purchase

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Wilmington, Dale. — Tesla CEO Elon Musk returned to court on Tuesday for a second day to defend the company’s purchase of SolarCity Corp.

Mr. Musk faced another day of questioning witnesses after a first heated day during which he targeted the opponent’s lawyer, while also arguing that he had not acted improperly during the negotiation process.

The case goes back to 2016, when Mr. Musk was president of both companies, and Tesla, then still unprofitable, bought money-losing SolarCity for about $2.1 billion to create a single clean energy company. The plaintiffs, who include pension funds that own Tesla shares, described the deal as a scheme to do himself a favor and save a solar home company on the verge of bankruptcy.

Mr. Musk, the only inaugural witness on day one in a non-jury trial in Delaware Chancery Court, faced nearly five hours of testimony, saying the SolarCity purchase was crucial to Tesla’s decade-long sustainable energy strategy.

“I don’t think SolarCity has been in financial trouble,” Musk said Monday. “In order to have a compelling product, you really need an integrated solar and battery solution. We couldn’t create a well-integrated product if SolarCity was a separate company.”

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