Tesla boss Elon Musk has prevailed in a legal dispute with shareholders over the controversial takeover of the loss-making green electricity company SolarCity.

Delaware judge sided with Mr Musk in a ruling on Wednesday and found that Tesla did not pay an excessive price for SolarCity.

The plaintiffs accused Mr Musk of pushing through the deal to buy the struggling solar panel manufacturer at the expense of Tesla shareholders.

Tesla bought SolarCity for around around $2.6 billion in 2016.

At the time, critics accused Musk of conflicts of interest because he was both the largest shareholder and chairman of the board at SolarCity.

There were also suspicions of nepotism from the start since the company was run by a cousin of Musk and Tesla co-founder JB Straubel was also on the board of directors.

Both companies were regularly in the red at the time.

At the time of the deal, SolarCity was considered to be in financial distress.

The judge agreed with the plaintiffs that Mr Musk had exerted too much influence on the takeover and, given his personal involvement, had not taken a step back from the negotiations.

However, he concluded that this was ultimately not a decisive factor in the transaction.

It remained to be seen, however, whether Mr Musk would be able to close the case.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs told U.S. media that he was reviewing options to appeal the verdict. 

(dpa/NAN)