Judge in Elon Musk Lawsuits Is Still Conflicted
The billionaire's lawyers appear to have forum-shopped for a friendly justice — and one who happens to own Tesla stock. That’s a problem.
Judgment call required.
Photographer: Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty ImagesElon Musk’s lawyers have filed two lawsuits on behalf of X (formerly Twitter) in a federal district court in Texas. As of 2023, the judge in that district, Reed O’Connor, owned between $15,000 and $50,000 of stock in Tesla. Yesterday afternoon, reports emerged that O’Connor would recuse himself from one of the cases involving X — which is wholly owned by Musk, who is also the controlling shareholder in Tesla. The judge made the right call (after sustaining some heavy criticism). He gave no reason, however, for his decision, and there is more than one possible explanation. He should now also recuse himself in the second case — and whether he does so many clarify his reasoning.
The Code of Judicial Conduct says judges may not preside over cases that would affect a company in which they own shares. Because X and Tesla are legally separate entities, O’Connor perhaps initially believed that this rule did not apply here.