Tesla CEO Elon Musk now owns 9.2 percent of Twitter according to 13G Deposit released today, Bloomberg News Reports. According to the filing, Musk bought the stake on March 14. Musk has long been a prominent Twitter user, and he recently polled more than 80 million followers about the platform’s commitment to freedom of expression. Twitter’s stock price is up more than 25 percent in pre-market trading in the news.
CNBC Notes Musk’s shares on Twitter are worth $2.89 billion based on Friday’s closing price. Musk’s stock is categorized as a negative stake, but Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told CNBC that the purchase “could lead to some kind of buyout.”
Musk has been publicly questioning Twitter’s approach to free speech via a The survey was conducted on his Twitter account On March 25th. “Freedom of expression is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you think Twitter adheres so firmly to this principle?” asked the CEO, before mentioning in a Tweet follow The results of this survey will be important.
The results of this survey will be important. Please vote carefully.
– Elon Musk 25 March 2022
“Given that Twitter serves as a de facto public square for the city, failure to adhere to the principles of free speech fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted the next day, Before publicly asking if a “new platform” was needed. Given that Musk bought his stake in Twitter on March 14, it appears that these comments came after his decision to buy a stake.
Earlier in the month, Musk said that “Absolute freedom of expressionAfter it was alleged that some governments asked Starlink to block access to Russian news sources. “We will only do it at gunpoint,” he said.
Musk’s use of Twitter sometimes got the CEO into a hot spot. In 2018, he infamously tweeted that he got paid to make Tesla private If it reaches $420 per share. In the end it turned out that he had not secured financing for the sale, and the Securities and Exchange Commission forced Musk to do so. Tesla’s lawyers pre-approved any tweets About the company’s financial position, sales, delivery numbers, and more.
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