Nov 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday

upheld a jury's verdict clearing Tesla CEO Elon Musk

and his company of liability over allegations they misled

investors when the billionaire posted on social media in 2018

that he had "funding secured" to take the electric car company

private.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

rejected arguments by lawyers for Tesla investors that the

instructions jurors received on the law from the judge presiding

over the case before they delivered their verdict in February

2023 were flawed, warranting a new trial.

Lawyers for Tesla shareholders argued the jury instructions

were confusing and impermissibly heightened their burden of

proof by requiring them to establish Musk knowingly made false

statements when he wrote his posts on Twitter, the platform now

known as X following Musk's $44 billion acquisition of it in

2022.

They said U.S. District Judge Edward Chen gave that flawed

instruction even though before the trial he had held Musk's

tweets were inaccurate and that he acted recklessly, making it

unnecessary for the shareholders in the class action lawsuit to

prove Musk acted knowingly.

But Wednesday's three-judge panel disagreed, saying that

while Musk had been found to have, at a minimum, tweeted

recklessly, the question of whether he acted knowingly was still

relevant if jurors needed to decide how to apportion damages

between the defendants in the case, including Tesla directors.

Ellyde Thompson, a lawyer for Musk and Tesla, welcomed the

decision. A lawyer for the plaintiffs did not respond to

requests for comment.

The case was filed in 2018 and concerned posts on Twitter

that had also led to a $40 million securities fraud settlement

later that year between Musk, Tesla and the U.S. Securities and

Exchange Commission.

The SEC probe and investors' lawsuit stemmed from a tweet

Musk posted on Aug. 7, 2018, saying he was considering taking

Tesla private at $420 per share, a premium of about 23% to the

prior day's close, and had "funding secured."

Later that day, he tweeted: "Investor support is confirmed."

Tesla's stock price soared after the tweets and then fell

again after Aug. 17, 2018, as it became clear the buyout would

not happen. The shareholders' lawyers accused Tesla and Musk of

misleading investors, costing them billions of dollars.