Texas judge recuses himself from X lawsuit after report shows he owns Tesla stock

The Texas judge assigned to rule on X’s antitrust lawsuit against advertisers recused himself from the case this week following a report that the judge is invested in Elon Musk’s Tesla.

U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor filed to recuse himself Tuesday from the lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, litigation that X launched last week. The social media firm accused the advertising coalition of illegally conspiring to boycott the site and cripple the company.

Also, Judge O’Connor is presiding over X’s lawsuit against Media Matters, an action that accuses the liberal nonprofit of publishing false information to scare away advertisers.

The recusal in the GARM suit comes just days after a National Public Radio report that Judge O’Connor holds $15,000 to $50,000 worth of Tesla stock. Mr. Musk is the CEO of Tesla. The report immediately called Judge O’Connor’s impartiality into question. The District Court of Northern Texas, where Judge O’Connor presides, assigns cases based on which division they are filed in.

Judge O’Connor’s financial disclosures also revealed that he has holdings in Unilever, one of the defendants in X’s antitrust lawsuit.

X’s antitrust suit is the highest-profile legal action the social media platform has taken regarding its advertising woes. Shortly after X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino announced the suit, the social media site Rumble announced it would join X’s crusade. Meanwhile, GARM announced last week that it would disband, promising to use the remainder of its funds to fight X’s lawsuit.