Elon Musk Buys 9.2% Passive Stake in Twitter, Social Media Shares Surge 26%

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is now on his way to get hold of Twitter, but this time, it is not through his engaging tweets. The multi billionaire has reported a passive stake of 9.2 per cent in the micro blogging platform, as per a US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filing on Monday.

In the filing, Twitter Inc. disclosed that Elon Musk owns Twitter shares numbering to 73,486,938 as shares of common stock in his personal capacity. The news triggered Twitter shares soaring up by as much as 26 per cent on the day, before the market open at $50.51 apiece, while shares of Tesla rose slightly, as per a report by Associated Press.

Elon Musk’s stake in Twitter is considered a passive investment, which means Musk is a long-term investor that’s looking to minimise his buying and selling of the shares. Passive investment means that the shareholder has no active role in running a company.

However, Musk has been raising questions about the ability to communicate freely on Twitter, tweeting last month about free speech and the social media platform and industry analysts were skeptical about the Tesla CEO remaining on the sidelines anywhere. The SEC filing comes days after Musk had on Twitter posted a poll about the social media giant, and asked his followers if they think Twitter “rigorously adheres” to the principles of free speech.

He had added that the consequences of their opinions “will be important”. Days later he tweeted, “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?”

In addition to raising questions about freedom of speech on Twitter Musk, in a separate tweet, said that he was giving serious thought” to creating a new social media platform.

Musk has clashed with regulators about his use of Twitter.

Early last month, Musk asked a federal judge to nullify a subpoena from securities regulators and throw out a 2018 court agreement in which Musk had to have someone pre-approve his posts on Twitter. U.S. securities regulators said they had legal authority to subpoena Tesla and Musk about his tweets, and that Musks move to throw out a 2018 court agreement that his tweets be pre-approved is not valid.

Musk’s revelation about his stake in Twitter shares comes two days after Tesla Inc. posted lackluster first-quarter production numbers. While the company delivered 310,000 vehicles in the period, the figure was slightly below expectations.

(With AP inputs)

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