Elon Musk has bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, more than four times the 2.25% holding of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. His newly purchased shares now make Musk one of the largest shareholders in the company.
The news saw the company’s shares soar about 25% of the pre-market trading. According to BBC News, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says the Tesla founder bought 73,486,938 Twitter shares on 14 March 2022. The stake is reportedly worth $2.89-billion.
This comes after the notorious business owner asked his followers what they thought about freedom of speech on the platform. Musk apparently asked his followers last month if Twitter adheres to freedom of speech.
When asked if he would consider building or creating a new social media platform Musk said he is “giving serious thought” to it.
Am giving serious thought to this
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2022
According to CNN, Musk asked his followers if he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla, which according to reports was a breach of an agreement he had with the SEC to consult with other Tesla executives and gain their approval before tweeting about the company.
The company received a subpoena from the SEC because the poll question triggered a stock selloff. Musk thought that was harassment and challenged the subpoena. All of this triggered the discussion about whether there is a need for a new social media platform.
“Musk’s motion to quash is procedurally defective and substantively meritless,” the SEC said.
More than 3.5 million Twitter users voted, with nearly 58% voting in favour of the share sale that lead to Musk selling around $5-billion of shares in the firm in November 2021, according to BBC News.
By Zintle Nkohla
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