Tesla CEO Elon Musk Buys a 9.2% Stake in Twitter, Becoming Largest Shareholder

Photo: Reuters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has acquired a 9.2% stake in Twitter, becoming the largest shareholder. A package of more than 73 million shares cost him almost $3 billion.

Elon Musk has long been one of the most prominent Twitter users. In fact, the social network became the only one where he was present and shared news from his life and about his companies, his opinion, and, of course, memes. Musk used Twitter exactly the way that former CEO Jack Dorsey thought all users should use it.

Now, in addition to being an exemplary Twitter user, the head of Tesla and SpaceX is also becoming the largest shareholder of the social network. Musk has acquired a particularly large stake in Twitter, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He now owns 73,486,938 Twitter shares, which is 9.2% of the company's common stock. The ownership percentage calculation is based on 800,641,166 shares of common stock outstanding as of February 10, 2022. The purchase took place on March 14, with the stake valued at around $2.9 billion. Undoubtedly, this news on Monday caused Twitter shares to jump by about 25%.

Less than two weeks ago, Musk raised the question of whether Twitter rigorously adheres to "free speech" as part of a "functioning democracy." He held a poll among his more than 80 million followers and asked them to be careful when answering the question, as the results of the vote will have consequences. "Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?" he asked his followers. 2,035,924 accounts took part in the poll, 70.4% of which believed that Twitter does not adhere to this principle, and only 29.6% answered the question in the affirmative.

The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022

According to the results of the poll, Musk responded with another tweet. He asked his followers what exactly needs to be done to improve Twitter. "Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?" He also asked if a new platform was needed.

Is a new platform needed?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022

Musk's followers made a lot of important comments on Twitter and suggested ways to improve the social network. Now it becomes clear why Tesla's CEO was so interested in Twitter issues, because a few days before, he made a purchase of shares in the company, and now he will probably seek to improve it.

 

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

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