Andrew Left Convicted on 13 of 17 Fraud Counts in Tweet-and-Trade Case

8 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Jun 2

A Los Angeles jury found Andrew Left guilty of the top securities-fraud charge and 12 of 16 trade-specific counts after two days of deliberations, while acquitting him on four counts.
Prosecutors said the Citron Research founder used market-moving tweets and reports to sway retail investors, then exited his own positions at different prices; they said the trades brought in about $20 million from 2018 to 2023.
Left, 55, testified that he was simply trading and warning investors about weak companies, but jurors rejected that defense in a case closely watched for defining legal limits on short-seller conduct.
He faces a maximum 25-year federal prison term at sentencing on Aug. 31, while his lawyers immediately sought a mistrial over a verdict sheet that briefly included a count the judge had already thrown out.

A famed short-seller was convicted for his tweets. Does this signal the end of public stock criticism online?

After Musk and Left, are social media platforms the next target in the SEC's crackdown on market manipulation?