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Billionaire Elon Musk is poised to become Twitter’s largest shareholder after questioning whether the social media platform needs a new competitor.
Mr. Musk took a 9.2% stake in Twitter, buying about 73.5 million shares, according to one regulator. filing On Monday, that’s an estimated value of $2.9 billion. Twitter’s stock rose 25% during trading Monday on news of the investment, according to CNBC.
The reason for the electric vehicle and space tech king’s Twitter investment isn’t clear, but industry analysts think he has more ambitious goals. Dan Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities, said he thought Mr. Musk could make an attempt to take control of the company.
“This morning, Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he now owns 9.2% passive stake,” Mr. Ives said. “We would expect this passive stake to be just the beginning of broader conversations with the Twitter board/management that could eventually lead to an active stake; Twitter’s more aggressive ownership role.”
Musk’s impact on other shareholders will be showcased at Twitter’s annual shareholders meeting next month. May 25 meeting Agenda It includes various items such as the election of the company’s board of directors.
Mr. Musk relied on Twitter users to inform his decisions. Last month, they did a poll on whether they believed Twitter was committed to freedom of expression. When they overwhelmingly answered no, Mr. Musk responded with open-ended questions about what to do and whether a new platform was needed.
It is not yet clear whether Mr. Musk will develop an internal overhaul on Twitter or an external alternative.
He gained a reputation as an outsider and outlaw using Twitter: Mr. Musk’s tweets sparked a federal investigation and met with Twitter outcasts, such as satirists on The Babylon Bee, which was later suspended by Twitter.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said it was investigating Mr. Musk’s November 2021 tweets about whether to sell his stake in electric vehicle company Tesla. He and Tesla had previously agreed to pay millions of dollars in fines in 2018 and have some tweets approved by a corporate lawyer.
While Mr. Musk tries to get on Twitter, some other outsiders are struggling to find their place as competitors.
Former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform has left two executives tasked with overseeing technology and product development, Reuters reported on Monday.
Truth Social’s parent company did not respond to requests for comment.
One of Mr Trump’s most loyal followers is also dissatisfied with his experience on his platform. According to the Daily Beast, longtime Trump’s confidant Roger Stone complained that he was being censored on the platform.
While Mr. Musk, Mr. Trump and others sought ways to challenge Twitter’s prominence in the microblogging market, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey expressed regret at the havoc he thinks he helped create.
Mr. Dorsey announced he was stepping down as Twitter CEO last year, and his term on the company’s board of directors expires in 2022, according to a regulation.
“The centralization of discovery and identity in companies has really damaged the internet,” Mr Dorsey said in a tweet on Saturday. “I realize that I am partly to blame, and I regret it.”
• This story is partially based on wire service reports.
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