A U.S. federal judge in Texas has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's social media platform X, which alleged that energy companies Shell and Ørsted, among others, conspired to boycott advertising on the platform. The court dismissed the suit against Shell and Ørsted without prejudice due to a lack of jurisdiction and also granted a motion by all defendants to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim.

Lawsuit Allegations and Defendants

X filed the suit in August 2024, targeting Shell, Danish wind developer Ørsted, and several other major companies including Lego, Mars, Unilever, and Pinterest. The platform alleged these companies engaged in an "illegal boycott" of advertising due to concerns about its owner and the presence of harmful content. The World Federation of Advertisers and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media were also named as defendants.

Ørsted's Defense and Jurisdictional Challenge

Ørsted vigorously contested the lawsuit and the court's jurisdiction. The company, majority-owned by the Danish state, argued it is a traditional European parent company with no corporate offices, employees, bank accounts, sales, manufacturing, or marketing activities in the United States. It stated its employees never participated in the cited advertising industry groups and that Ørsted bore no responsibility for decisions to withhold ad spending from X.

While X argued Ørsted had a U.S. presence through subsidiaries and "substantial investments" like wind farms in Texas, Ørsted countered that its U.S. wind farms are owned by independent, indirect, and partially owned subsidiaries. The company explicitly denied having any business presence in the Northern District of Texas or elsewhere in the United States, contrary to X's assertions.

Context of the Dispute

The lawsuit emerged following Musk's $44 billion purchase of the platform, then named Twitter, in 2023. His subsequent removal of content moderation guardrails, which allowed far-right activists to operate more freely, contributed to a significant drop in the platform's valuation and sparked advertiser concerns. Musk's controversial political role heading a U.S. government efficiency initiative under former President Donald Trump has also been part of the backdrop to the adversarial relationship with some advertisers.