Elon Musk buys 9.2% of Twitter, making him the largest shareholder

Billionaire tech mogul, Elon Musk, has bought 9.2% of Twitter according to a regulatory filing made public today, Monday 4th of April.

Twitter shares soared by 22% in early trading when news filtered into the mainstream media. His stake worth $2.9 billion as of the close of trading Friday increased to $3.5 billion after the spike.

According to the filing, Musk purchased around 73.4 million common making him the largest shareholder in the company with 9.2% stake. Founder Jack Dorsey has a 2.25% stake and Vanguard has 8.8% at the end of last year

This is quite interesting considering the fact that just a couple of days ago, he criticized the social media platform for not adhering to free speech and that he was giving serious thought to building a new social media platform.

“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 tweeted.

It is unclear what Musk wants to do in the company as his filing states that he planned for the investment to be passive, meaning he does not intend to pursue control of the company. However we all know that this stance might change when you consider the kind of person Elon Musk is.

Musk’s relationship with Twitter

It is a well known fact that Musk is locked into a bitter dispute with U.S. securities regulators over his ability to post on Twitter. Musk’s lawyer has contended in court motions that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is infringing on the Tesla CEO’s First Amendment rights.

So one wonders if he bought into Twitter to alter its policy on moderating content in the name of freer speech? New York Times asks if he will push for Twitter to open up its algorithm, which the company’s co-founder and former C.E.O. Jack Dorsey appeared to support last week? 

Time will tell.