Twitter to Pay $809m to Settle Misleading Metrics Case

Twitter has agreed a settlement in a case accusing it of misleading investors with overly-bullish predictions of user growth. The company officially admits no wrongdoing but will shell out $809m if the deal is approved by an Oakland, CA judge.

According to www.mediapost.com , the class action was brought on behalf of investors who purchased stock in Twitter between February 6th and July 28th 2015, and alleges that during this time the microblogging site publicly talked up its growth potential with stats about monthly average users, while keeping quiet about flat or declining numbers for daily average users. According to a later amendment to the filing, these misrepresentations were the result of pressure to meet unrealistic projections set in November 2014 when the company told analysts it would have 550m users within the next four years.

U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar (pictured) ruled eighteen months ago that a jury should decide whether the statements were misleading, and the deal comes as the parties prepare for this trial.