By
Bena Ilyas
April 23rd, 2024
Events surrounding Elon Musk’s tweets in recent times have suggested that he might have some interest in the social media platform.
The regulatory filing of Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of electric auto-maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and SpaceX which showed he has acquired a 9.2% stake in social media giant Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) is having far more positive ramifications for the company’s stock than envisaged.
In a very dramatic twist, the Twitter stock hit its best day since its Initial Public Offering (IPO) back in November 2013 when it soared up to 73% at the close of trading. The acquisition of the shares by Elon Musk sent the shares up more than 28% before paring off some of the gains to close at $49.97 with a 27.13% gain.
There were many events that led to the acquisition news from Elon Musk, all of which lend nothing but speculation on what comes next now that the world’s richest man has become the largest shareholder of the popular bird app.
“Considering what a small investment this is for him (~1% of net worth), we would not be surprised to see him increase his stake even further, and potentially assume a more active role in the decision-making at the company,” Truist Securities’ analysts said in a Monday note, referring to Musk’s reported $273 billion net worth.
A lot more other pundits have been openly calling for Elon Musk to take a controlling stake in the company as he has been an advocate of free speech which Twitter has been adjudged to be lacking.
Correlation Between Dinesh’s Charge and Twitter Stock Buyup
Events surrounding Elon Musk’s tweets in recent times have suggested that the engineering veteran might have some interest in the social media platform. Earlier in January, conservative pundit Dinesh D’Souza charged Elon Musk to do much more than just share tweets in which he criticizes the narrative and status quo.
Taking to Twitter Dinesh said Musk can do one of three things including buying and taking over a major social media platform, “acquire or create a TV network like ABC, NBC or CBS,” or, “create a world-class online university and offer degrees for free.”
In response to this charge, Elon Musk simply tweeted “Interesting ideas,” and the actual acquisition of Twitter shares is considered a direct correlation to Dinesh’s charge.
Interesting ideas
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2022
The acquisition of Twitter shares is more or less a revolution that seems to be starting with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As reported by CNBC, every passive stake acquired is obligated to be reported to the market regulator within 10 days of purchase, or else, the buyer will stand the risk of paying a fine of about $100,000.
Elon Musk notably filed the notice after 20 days of making the purchase which was done on March 14. While Elon Musk will obviously not have an issue paying the fine considering his humongous networth, the late filing is as though he is trying to get back at the SEC whom he has also accused through Twitter of doing all it can to “chill” his right to free speech.