Musk Loses OpenAI Lawsuit But Legal Experts Say He Won’t Stop Fighting
Elon Musk has now lost several high-profile court battles in quick succession, BBC Business reported Monday, and legal analysts say the world’s richest man shows little sign of changing course.
The most recent blow came when a jury rejected Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its co-founder Sam Altman. The verdict capped a remarkable stretch of courtroom setbacks for the entrepreneur.
A Losing Streak That Keeps Growing
The OpenAI defeat follows a series of legal reversals. Late last year Musk settled with former Twitter executives and thousands of ex-employees. He had fought for years to avoid paying them anything.
In March, investors sued him over public statements made during his Twitter acquisition. A judge ruled against him. Days later, a separate judge dismissed his case against advertisers who abandoned the platform.
Also in March, a court found that certain DOGE spending cuts represented unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. The rulings arrived in rapid succession across very different legal arenas.
Why the Losses Barely Register
Shubha Ghosh, a law professor at Syracuse University, told BBC Business that Musk is largely behaving like any assertive businessperson defending perceived rights. Ghosh stopped short of calling the litigation abusive.
The financial penalties involved offer little deterrent. A $1.5M fine from the US Securities and Exchange Commission over his failure to disclose early Twitter stock purchases barely registered. When a Delaware judge voided his multi-billion-dollar Tesla pay package in late 2024, Musk simply reincorporated the company in Texas. Shareholders then approved a potentially larger package.
His immense stake in SpaceX, which is expected to list publicly in the near future, positions him to become the world’s first trillionaire. At that scale, legal costs and fines become rounding errors.
Background: A Pattern Decades in the Making
Aggressive corporate litigation is not new in American business. But legal scholars say Musk’s appetite for public combat sets him apart even from notorious figures. Dorothy Lund of Columbia Law School drew a comparison to President Donald Trump. Both figures, she said, appear largely unfazed by reputational damage or judicial losses.
Lund pointed out that even famed corporate raider Carl Icahn, the inspiration behind the Gordon Gekko character in Wall Street, did not display quite the same brazenness in the face of repeated setbacks.
“He does what he wants and sometimes gets a slap on the wrist,” Lund told BBC Business. “So why would he change?”
What Comes Next
Musk is unlikely to slow his legal activity, Lund concluded. No single loss, fine, or public backlash has yet produced what she called “real consequences” for his behavior or his businesses.
The OpenAI verdict may be the most prominent defeat yet. It almost certainly will not be the last lawsuit he files.
Read Next: OpenAI and Altman Cleared as Jury Rejects Musk’s High-Profile Legal Challenge