Elon Musk buys Twitter

Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired a 9 percent stake in Twitter to become its largest shareholder at a time when he is questioning the social media platform's ...

The SEC also disclosed that it is investigating Musk’s Nov. 6, 2021 tweets that asked followers whether he should sell 10 percent of his Tesla stake. Musk’s revelation about his stake in Twitter shares comes two days after Tesla Inc. posted first-quarter delivery numbers. The funding was far from secured and the electric vehicle company remains public, but Tesla’s stock price jumped. Former President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and other top social media platforms following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot last year that critics accused him of inciting. The SEC brought a securities fraud charge, alleging that Musk was manipulating the stock price with his posts. Musk could begin advocating for changes at Twitter immediately if he chooses. The ultimate aim of Musk’s 73.5 million share purchase, worth about $3 billion, is not known. It’s unclear just when Musk bought the stake. The SEC responded in a court motion, saying it has legal authority to subpoena Tesla and Musk about his tweets, and that Musk’s move to throw out the settlement is not valid. The purchase also comes as Musk is locked into a bitter dispute with the SEC over his ability to post on Twitter. His lawyer has contended in court motions that the SEC is infringing on the Tesla CEO’s First Amendment rights. Four strikes prompt a weeklong suspension. In March, Musk told his millions of followers on Twitter that he was ” giving serious thought ” to creating his own social media platform, and has clashed repeatedly with financial regulators about his use of Twitter.

Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk has bought a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, becoming one of its top shareholders. He has one of the most followed accounts.

Vanguard is Twitter’s second-biggest shareholder, with an 8.79 per cent stake, according to Refinitiv data. He has already sold $US16.4 billion worth of shares since then. Musk - who, according to Forbes, has a net worth of about $US300 billion - has been selling his stake in Tesla since November, when he said he would offload 10 per cent of his holding in the electric-car maker. Of late, however, the world’s richest person has been critical of the social media platform and its policies, and recently ran a Twitter poll asking users if they believed the platform adheres to the principle of free speech, to which over 70 per cent voted “no”. A prolific Twitter user, Musk has over 80 million followers since joining the site in 2009 and has used the platform to make several announcements, including teasing a go-private deal for Tesla that landed him in regulatory crosshairs. Tesla Inc top boss Elon Musk revealed a 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter Inc, worth nearly $US3 billion ($4 billion), making him the micro-blogging site’s largest shareholder and triggering a more than 25 per cent rise in the company’s shares.

Twitter's stock shot up as much as 26 per cent in premarket trading, adding an extra $8 billion to the social media platform's market value.

In 2018, he was forced to resign as chairman of Tesla after an SEC investigation. If the billionaire had bought the shares at Friday’s closing price, Musk’s purchase would have cost approximately US$2.89 billion. Market trading for the social media platform was up six per cent before the bell, continuing a trend of rising market value for Twitter in the midst of Musk’s interest in the company.

Musk did not disclose what he paid for the shares, but his stake was worth $2.9 billion as of the close of trading Friday, and $3.5 billion after the spike ...

Musk is the world's richest person, with an estimated net worth of $288 billion, according to Forbes Twitter's $31.5 billion market value is a fraction of what companies such as Tesla or rival social media giant Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, are worth. "He'd have to partner up with private equity," Ives said. "This creates a bit more uncertainty about how Agrawal and the firm may respond to the firm's now largest shareholder." Some believe the platform did not do enough to combat misinformation about Covid-19 and alleged election fraud. That is one of the factors prompting other investors to buy shares and drive up the price early Monday. He also agreed to have any of his future tweets that might contain material information about the company reviewed by other executives at Tesla before sending them. And it's not completely clear what changes he would like to see. Others believe it was wrong to censor some points of view, including banning former President Donald Trump in the past when he was facing criticism from some shareholders. Musk's filing did not disclose the purpose of the purchase or any plans for the company. Ives said it's probably not realistic for Musk or anyone else to try to start building a new, competing platform from scratch.

A new SEC filing revealed that Elon Musk, better known as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, invested almost $3 billion in Twitter and now owns almost 10% of the ...

After the transaction and giving some shares to charity, we believe Musk still had a few billion dollars left in cash from the transaction. That’s more shares than Jack Dorsey, Twitter cofounder and recently exited CEO, owns in the company. He also has a few private investments, but always in companies that he is directly involved in, such as SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.