Outspoken Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, bought a substantial interest in Twitter, making him the social media business’s largest outside stakeholder, not long after denouncing the company for failing to maintain the fundamentals of free speech.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission 13G report issued Monday, Musk holds 73,486,938 shares of Twitter, representing a 9.2 percent passive ownership in the firm. Based on Twitter’s closing price on Friday, the stake is worth $2.89 billion.
Twitter’s stock soared more than 27% in New York trading on Monday as a result of the news. It puts him the company’s largest stakeholder, with a stake of more than four times that of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s 2.25 percent.
Mr Musk is a frequent Twitter user with over 80 million followers, yet he recently stated that he is considering creating a new social media network.
Mr Musk asked his Twitter followers late last month if they thought the social media network fostered free expression.
“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”
He then asked: “Is a new platform needed?”
Elon Musk utilizes Twitter to keep his followers up to date on the companies he owns, such as SpaceX and Neuralink. He is also known for posting memes, which adds to his fan base.
However, some of the posts have sparked debate.
He tweeted last year in response to a claim by the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) chief that only 2% of Mr Musk’s fortune could assist to end world hunger.
Mr Musk stated in October that he would sell $6 billion in Tesla stock and donate it to the World Food Programme if the organization could explain “just how $6 billion will alleviate world hunger.”
Mr Musk’s Tesla vehicle company has surpassed a market value of $1 trillion, making it the fifth company to do so after Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
Soon after, he took to Twitter to ask Twitter users if he should sell a 10% interest in Tesla. More than 3.5 million Twitter users voted, with approximately 58 percent in favor of the stock sale, resulting in Musk selling around $5 billion (£3.7 billion) in shares in November.