He supposedly polled people on Twitter before making important business choices. Regulators have slapped his hand (figuratively and literally) several times over his use of the social media platform to possibly influence the markets. He’s even stated that he wants to create his own social network, since possessing a digital soapbox appears to be the moguls (and autocrat’s) modern version of owning a super-yacht. Elon Musk is now putting his money where his mouth has been for a long time. Today, Twitter issued a statement revealing that Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, had purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the business, valued at $2.9 billion based on Friday’s share price.
The confirmation of the share acquisition, which had been reported over the previous week, sent Twitter’s stock surging; it’s presently trading at a 23 percent premium to its Friday closing price ahead of the market’s opening. Musk’s filing, which he signed and dated today, states that the share event took place on March 14. It said that on that day, he had bought 73,486,938 shares of ordinary stock.
The date is significant since it is around 14 days before Musk’s tweets indicating he was “seriously considering” creating his own social network. One interpretation is that it appears he was teasing his base with the true news here, which is his purchase of a stake in Twitter. A troll is a troll forever. Musk’s version of building may begin now, in the form of acquiring a share in an already-existing firm — a platform where he’s established himself as a power user, no less — because launching a social network from scratch is a long game with no guarantee of success.
Those who like Musk have savored the opportunity to tweet at him in the hopes of receiving a response, as well as to obsessively follow his statements on everything from bitcoin and his enterprises to international politics, on Twitter. His detractors have slammed how he appears to use the platform to influence circumstances, sometimes just for fun.
Musk himself is difficult to categorize, yet his attitude mainly resembles that of a libertarian. This newfound interest in being a social media entrepreneur — not simply a user — with an emphasis on so-called “free speech” underpins his perspective. According to some reports, Musk will become Twitter’s largest and single shareholder as a result of these shares. It’s unclear what this means for Twitter, Musk, and the rest of the world of normal people who aren’t fanboys of the guy. We’ve contacted the company to check that information, and we’ll keep you updated as we discover more.
