Elias Pettersson Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 (edited) Elon Musk took a 9.2% stake in Twitter Inc. to become the platform’s biggest shareholder, a week after hinting he might shake up the social media industry. Twitter shares surged as much as 27% after Musk’s purchase was revealed Monday in a regulatory filing. The gain marked the stock’s biggest intraday increase since its first day of trading following the company’s 2013 initial public offering. The stake is worth about $2.89 billion, based on Friday’s market close. Musk, 50, polled his more than 80 million followers on Twitter last month, asking them whether the company adheres to the principles of free speech. After more than 70% said no, he asked whether a new platform was needed and said he was giving serious thought to starting his own. “Given Elon’s prior comments about wanting to start a social media company, I would say it’s possible that he will increase his stake in Twitter or take a controlling interest in the company sometime soon,” said Tom Forte, an analyst at DA Davidson & Co. Musk has been one of the biggest personalities on Twitter and has regularly run into trouble on the platform. The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer is currently seeking to exit a 2018 deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that put controls in place related to his tweeting about the electric-car maker. The announcement will be yet another major test for new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who replaced Jack Dorsey after he unexpectedly resigned in November. Agrawal vowed to increase accountability, make decisions faster and to improve product execution. The company set ambitious goals for growth including increasing annual revenue to $7.5 billion and getting to 315 million daily users by the end of 2023. Musk posted a cryptic meme in December after Twitter announced that Agrawal was taking over from Dorsey as Twitter’s CEO. It depicted Agrawal as Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and Dorsey as Soviet secret police head Nikolai Yezhov being shoved into water. “It looks like Elon has his eyes laser set on Twitter,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a research note, adding that the stake could lead to a “more aggressive ownership role.” Twitter is particularly vulnerable to outside pressure because unlike Google, Facebook, Amazon and Snap, the company’s founders don’t have special voting control over its future. The company has just recovered from activist pressure by Elliot Management that started in 2020 which led Dorsey, who was serving his second stint as CEO of Twitter, to set a succession plan. It’s unclear what Musk is planning with his stake. The filing with the SEC shows that the date of the event that triggered the disclosure was March 14. The type of form used often indicates the investor isn’t seeking to acquire control of a company, or to influence who controls it. Musk, already the world’s richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has made about $1.1 billion on his holding since mid March, based on the pop in Twitter’s shares in early trading Monday. Twitter is under pressure to move faster in building new products. The company has set ambitious revenue and user growth goals to convince skeptical investors that it was serious about expanding its business. While Twitter has grown steadily for years, its stock gains have lagged behind industry peers. Musk has lambasted Twitter’s recent development of profile pictures linked to non-fungible tokens, saying the social media company has the wrong priorities. Edited October 28, 2022 by Elias Pettersson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 (edited) When you see some of the random tweets he does. I wonder if this is to hide the tweets he shouldn't be making. A genius who's a cat's whisker's away from utter madness? Edited April 4, 2022 by Ghostsof1915 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuckin_futz Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 It's no doubt an effort to get some of his people on Twitter's Board of Directors and run it in a more Elon friendly direction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 Elon is a twatter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboose Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 Can't ban you from something you own I guess. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24K PureCool Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 So Elon bought a get out of twitter jail free card. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 Rich jerk looking to give himself the ability to call people pedophiles and get away with it. However the courts will still have the last say. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Good for him 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Probably get blocked fast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuckin_futz Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) STORY: Twitter will name top shareholder Elon Musk to its board, the tech giant announced Tuesday (April 5). It comes a day after the Tesla CEO disclosed a 9.2% stake in the social media company, worth about $3 billion. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said Musk was a passionate believer and intense critic of the service - and added he will make the boardroom stronger in the long-term. Musk in response, said he was looking forward to working with the company. The appointment may temporarily block chances of an immediate takeover bid from Musk, which some analysts and investors had speculated about. The company said Musk cannot own more than 14.9% of Twitter's common stock either as an individual shareholder or as a member of a group as long as he is the director of Twitter. On Monday (April 4) it was revealed Musk owned 73.5 million Twitter shares. He will serve as a Class II director with the term due to expire at Twitter's 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. Edited April 5, 2022 by nuckin_futz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 On 4/4/2022 at 12:09 PM, gurn said: Rich jerk looking to give himself the ability to call people pedophiles and get away with it. However the courts will still have the last say. Isnt the creation of Tesla a great hope in fighting climate change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 (edited) I'm actually not cynical about this. They are all rich assholes, or influenced by rich assholes. Big tech companies have had issues with questionable censorship, hopefully that's where he can lend influence. But who knows, they are all rich assholes after-all. Edited April 6, 2022 by Smashian Kassian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 What intrigues me? A10% stake in a company that has $7.5 Billion in revenue. That 10% is worth $2.9 Billion? Has made Musk near a billion on that play in 3 weeks. ie a $20 Billion Dollar company is suddenly a $30 Billion dollar company. It was ridiculous even before Elon jumped on board... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
You Mad Bro? Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 Good news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuckin_futz Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 (edited) 9 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said: Isnt the creation of Tesla a great hope in fighting climate change? Fun fact - Musk didn't create Tesla. He bought his way into it. Edited April 6, 2022 by nuckin_futz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedestroyerofworlds Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 3 hours ago, nuckin_futz said: Fun fact - Musk didn't create Tesla. He bought his way into it. Fun fact 2. He wasn't a key figure in the creation of PayPal. He wasn't CEO when it released its first IPO or when it sold. He just held a stake in the company when the two original payment firms merged (he was part of one of the two firms) to form the company that became PayPal, which he was CEO for less than a year. Musk being painted as a visionary is laughable. Yet so many buy his snake oil. Hyperloop and the Vegas loop. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 14 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said: Isnt the creation of Tesla a great hope in fighting climate change? Maybe, but if he is getting battery, and other parts and materials from countries that don't careabout human rights or environment there is a risk of these cars just moving polution to some other area of the world. Rich jerks can still do good things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilunga Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 6 hours ago, thedestroyerofworlds said: Fun fact 2. He wasn't a key figure in the creation of PayPal. He wasn't CEO when it released its first IPO or when it sold. He just held a stake in the company when the two original payment firms merged (he was part of one of the two firms) to form the company that became PayPal, which he was CEO for less than a year. Musk being painted as a visionary is laughable. Yet so many buy his snake oil. Hyperloop and the Vegas loop. https://www.psypost.org/2021/12/new-study-suggests-you-can-bull$&!#-some-bull$&!#ters-62255 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Pettersson Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 10 hours ago, thedestroyerofworlds said: Fun fact 2. He wasn't a key figure in the creation of PayPal. He wasn't CEO when it released its first IPO or when it sold. He just held a stake in the company when the two original payment firms merged (he was part of one of the two firms) to form the company that became PayPal, which he was CEO for less than a year. Musk being painted as a visionary is laughable. Yet so many buy his snake oil. Hyperloop and the Vegas loop. How does a snake oil salesman create a net worth of $270 billion? Don't you have to be kinda smart to do that? He may not have invented or created anything on his own but to suggest he is simply a snake oil salesman is quite laughable... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedestroyerofworlds Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 6 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said: How does a snake oil salesman create a net worth of $270 billion? Don't you have to be kinda smart to do that? He may not have invented or created anything on his own but to suggest he is simply a snake oil salesman is quite laughable... I gave you two of his snake oil brands. Hyperloop and the Vegas loop thing. Cybertruck. The Tesla semi. A couple more. It's a lot easier when you come from money to "make" more. A lot of that "net worth" is in overpriced stocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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