Musk denies instigating Tesla-SolarCity deal

One day after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk told a Wilmington, Delaware court that he hated being CEO of Tesla, but if he left, Tesla would quote "die", he was back on the witness stand Tuesday to defend Tesla's $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity.

In day two of his testimony, Musk defended Tesla's handling of the negotiations, refuting claims that he dictated the price Tesla, would pay for the struggling, out-of-cash solar panel maker, which was founded by his cousins.

At the time of the deal, Musk had a stake in both companies.

Union pension funds and asset managers have brought the lawsuit, claiming Musk strong-armed Tesla directors in 2016 into using the company to rescue SolarCity from the brink of bankruptcy, a move which was also financially beneficial to Musk.

Musk has consistently told the court that the Tesla board primarily handled the SolarCity deal.

But the plaintiffs' attorney challenged that assertion Tuesday by pointing to meeting notes taken by a financial advisor, which hinted that Musk suggested the board offer $28.50 a share. The attorney said that conflicted with Musk's claims that he was hands off on the deal .

Musk fired back in a less combative testimony than the day before , "I was making the obvious point that any offer, if not publicly defensible, will be rejected by SolarCity shareholders.”

The Tesla shareholders taking part in the lawsuit want Musk to be ordered to return the value of the deal to Tesla.

The company's directors settled allegations from the same lawsuit last year for $60 million, paid by insurance, without admitting fault.