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Plaintiffs Are Suing Elon For $258 Billion Dollars Over Meme Money. I'd Want This Case Thrown Out Too.

While you can't teach a Doge new tricks, you can sue the hell out of 'em.

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Dogecoin via Wikimedia Commons

(Image by MazRx via Wikimedia Commons)

Like it or not, Elon Musk has a lot of influence. He’s the second richest man in the world, is the (bumbling) head of one of the largest public forums in the world, and — when he’s not actively creating them — has dedicated followers who watch his every move. Said watchers, much like Tesla and Facebook, often take losses for reasons that range from normal market fluctuations to Elon bullying his employees. And when that happens, lawsuits follow. From Reuters:

Elon Musk asked a U.S. judge on Friday to throw out a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

In an evening filing in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for Musk and his electric car company Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) called the lawsuit by Dogecoin investors a “fanciful work of fiction” over Musk’s “innocuous and often silly tweets” about Dogecoin.

The lawyers said the investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed, and that his statements such as “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, only Doge” were too vague to support a fraud claim.

This may actually be a rare W for Elon and his merry band of “hardcore” lawyers. Doge was meme money from the start and anyone who actually thought that its going to the moon was a shoo-in would likely be interested in buying a bridge in Brooklyn. As much as I love some drama at Wario’s expense, it is hard to not see the gut check merit in his counsel’s position.

“There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion,” Musk’s lawyers said. “This court should put a stop to plaintiffs’ fantasy and dismiss the complaint.”

Am I calling this an open-and-shut case? I wouldn’t go that far. Maybe discovery will turn up some text message where, in between tired 420 jokes and poop emojis, Elon openly tells Grimes that he’s gonna do a little price manipulation to feel alive again. In the meantime, I’d like to give some financial advice to the Elon fanboys. Don’t rely on meme money to get you rich while you sleep. Do what everyone else does and find a way to siphon profits from the people working beneath you.

If you are interested in following the deets of the case, Johnson et al v. Musk et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-05037 would be a great start.

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Elon Musk Seeks To End $258 Billion Dogecoin Lawsuit [Reuters]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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