Tesla CEO Elon Musk has grabbed a huge stake in Twitter, making him the social media giant’s biggest shareholder just days after questioning its commitment to free speech.
Musk’s purchase, revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing published on Monday, gives him a 9.2% ownership stake, according to the Financial Times. At Twitter’s current valuation, Musk’s purchase likely cost nearly $3 billion. It comes after a poll Musk posted on Twitter sparked speculation that he was considering buying Twitter or launching his own social network.
Musk, the world’s richest man, now owns 73,486,938 shares in Twitter, according to the filing. The second-largest share is an 8.39% stake owned by the Vanguard Group. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey holds a 2.25% stake in the company’s shares.
Twitter shares jumped 25% in premarket trading on Monday after Musk’s purchase was revealed.
INFLATION HITS 40-YEAR HIGH IN KEY GAUGE WATCHED BY FED
Elon Musk has just taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter.
Watch them sweat!!!
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) April 4, 2022
Musk, who has 80 million followers on Twitter, has been critical of the platform for silencing conservatives. In the poll he published on March 25, most of his followers agreed with him.
“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” Musk later emphasized that “the consequences of this poll will be important.” More than 70% of respondents answered “no.”
Musk later emphasized his point in a second poll, asking, “Is a new platform needed?” Musk has also been critical of the platform’s approach to content moderation, claiming that “failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.”
Musk’s poll came as the Tesla CEO has been scrutinized over his Twitter presence’s influence on his company’s stock. The SEC asked a federal judge on March 22 to hold Musk to a 2018 consent decree that mandated Tesla’s lawyers to review any tweets Musk might post that could affect the company’s stock.
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The SEC also issued a subpoena in response to a November Twitter poll released by Musk asking if he should offload a significant amount of his Tesla stock. He eventually sold $5 billion in Tesla stock in response. Tesla investors sued Musk in December, alleging that his tweets had affected the stock market.
