Elon Musk testified that he is "financially illiquid," a lawyer for the British diver Vernon Unsworth wrote in a legal filing, Bloomberg first reported on Wednesday.

Unsworth is suing Musk claiming defamation after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO called him a "pedo guy" on Twitter last year.

A filing from Monday by Unsworth's attorney refers to "Musk's sworn testimony that he is financially illiquid," according to Bloomberg's report.

Musk is worth about $23.6 billion, though a substantial majority of his wealth is in the form of stock in SpaceX (worth $14.6 billion) and Tesla (worth $8.8 billion), according to Bloomberg.

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Elon Musk testified that he is "financially illiquid," a lawyer for the British diver Vernon Unsworth wrote in a legal filing, Bloomberg's Dana Hull first reported on Wednesday.

Unsworth is suing Musk claiming defamation after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO called him a "pedo guy" on Twitter last year.

Musk's tweet followed an interview in which Unsworth, who was involved in last year's rescue of a youth soccer team and its coach from a cave in Thailand, said the miniature submarine Musk sent to Thailand to help with the rescue would have been ineffective and was merely a publicity stunt.

Musk later apologized to Unsworth and deleted the tweet.

Read more: NASA reportedly paid SpaceX $5 million to make sure its employees didn't use illegal drugs after Elon Musk smoked pot on camera

A filing from Monday by Unsworth's attorney refers to "Musk's sworn testimony that he is financially illiquid," according to Bloomberg's report.

Musk is worth about $23.6 billion, though a substantial majority of his wealth is in the form of stock in SpaceX (worth $14.6 billion) and Tesla (worth $8.8 billion), according to Bloomberg.

"Mr. Musk clarified that much of his net worth is committed to his companies," Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, told Business Insider. "Of course Mr. Unsworth's lawyers are focused on this, since the entire case is nothing but a money-grab."

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An attorney for Unsworth did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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