Twitter seeks to settle 2016 class motion lawsuit for $800 million

Twitter Inc stated on Monday it could pay $809.5 million to settle a shareholder class-action lawsuit accusing the social media firm of deceiving traders about how typically folks used its platform.
The settlement resolved a case that had been on the verge of going to trial. Jury choice had been scheduled to start on Monday, however at a September 17 listening to US District Judge Jon Tigar in Oakland, California postponed it till late November.

Twitter, former Chief Executive Officer Richard Costolo and former Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto denied wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement, which requires Tigar’s approval.
“The jury trial is a great equalizer, even for some of the most powerful entities on the planet,” stated Tor Gronborg, a accomplice at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd representing the shareholders.
In early afternoon buying and selling, Twitter shares had been down 3.8 per cent at $60.11. Twitter stated it expects to make use of money available to pay the settlement quantity within the fourth quarter of this 12 months, and file a associated cost within the third quarter.
Shareholders sued Twitter in September 2016, alleging it artificially inflated its inventory worth by deceptive them about person engagement.
According to the grievance, Twitter discontinued reporting “timeline views” in late 2014, and hid stagnating or declining person engagement by reporting obscure descriptions of person metrics.
Shareholders stated Twitter acknowledged the reality after Costolo left the corporate in June 2015, and its inventory worth dropped 20 per cent.

The class motion covers traders who bought the inventory from Feb. 6, 2015, to July 28, 2015.
Since 1996, solely 9 of the greater than 5,000 US securities class motion circumstances filed by inventory traders have gone by means of trial to a verdict, the Securities Class Action Clearinghouse stated.
Slightly greater than half of the lawsuits are dismissed, and many of the relaxation settle.