Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has amassed a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, the social media company. Musk, a frequent tweeter, now owns over 73 million shares in Twitter, according to an SEC regulatory filing.
Following a regulatory statement Monday on Musk’s purchase of a stake in Twitter, the stock jumped roughly 26% in pre-market trading.
Musk, 50, polled his more than 80 million Twitter followers last month, asking if the company adhered to free speech ideals. After more than 70% of people replied no, he inquired if a new platform was needed and that he was seriously considering launching his own.
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
Musk is one of the most well-known Twitter users, and he has a history of getting himself into problems on the network. Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk is attempting to get out of a 2018 agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that limits his tweets about the electric vehicle company.
Musk’s Twitter ownership is classified as a passive investment, implying that he is a long-term investor who wants to keep his buying and selling to a minimum.
However, in recent weeks, Musk has raised concerns on Twitter about free speech and if failing to follow its basic principles damages democracy. He’s reportedly considered creating his own social media network, and industry watchers doubt that the erratic CEO would stay out of the spotlight for long.
The announcement will be another key test for new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who took over from Jack Dorsey after his abrupt resignation in November.
Agrawal promised to improve product execution, boost accountability, and make speedier decisions. By the end of 2023, the company established aggressive growth goals, including growing annual revenue to $7.5 billion and reaching 315 million daily users.
Musk’s 9.2 percent holding puts him ahead of Vanguard Group (which owns 8.79 percent), Morgan Stanley Investment Management (which owns 8.08 percent), and BlackRock Institutional Trust Company (which owns 8.08 percent) (4.56 percent ).
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, owns about 2.25 percent of the company’s stock, or about a fourth of Musk’s.
I guess that makes @elonmusk Twitter’s largest shareholder — bigger than even Dorsey pic.twitter.com/21rLe1tkun
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) April 4, 2022
But that’s only a small part of Musk’s fortune; according to Forbes’ Real-Time billionaire’s list, the world’s richest individual is worth $287 billion. As of Friday night’s close, Twitter was valued at around $32 billion.
According to Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, Elon Musk’s 9.2 percent investment in Twitter is “just the beginning.”
According to CNBC, Musk is expected to take an active interest in Twitter in the future in order to try to transform the firm, or it might eventually lead to a buyout.
Elon Musk’s first tweet after the purchase :-
Here are how some people reacted to this :-
It's never quiet in Musk-land: Elon Musk is now the biggest shareholder @Twitter after taking a 9.2% stake. That's a week after hinting about plans to shake up the social media platform. https://t.co/ErEmnwpqR9 via @technology
— Elisabeth Behrmann (@ElisBehrmann) April 4, 2022
Why does this annoy people? If he’s going to improve twitters Ts and Cs when it comes to which content is allowed etc isn’t that a good thing? There was a point last year where even things that were shown to be true were deemed misinfo and could get you banned. That needs fixed.
— Azide (@AzLynchy) April 4, 2022
Oh great, another self-described ‘red-pilled’ oligarch is going to play in the ‘free speech’ space. I’m sorry @elonmusk but if you try to force Twitter to replatform seditious maniac Donald Trump, you’re no better than sociopath Peter Thiel. Pay to play hate isn’t welcome here. https://t.co/fkzNB3l9uM
— Amy Roark (@Todays_Pretty) April 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/LGBNFT_Official/status/1510960126794113029