Twitter shares surged sharply Tuesday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined the social platform’s board. The billionaire bought a 9.2% stake in the company.
Following the 73,486,939 Twitter shares purchase, Musk became the largest shareholder of the social network. The shares are estimated to be around $2.89 billion at Friday’s closing price, a small portion of the richest man in the world’s $288 billion fortune, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
The CEO of Tesla has been the most famous Twitter user for over 4 years. Musk currently has 80 million followers and his tweets have caused him major damage in the past, including a 2019 defamation trial after he called a British cave explorer a “pedo guy.” Musk was found not liable.
In 2018, he was charged $20 million in fines by the Securities and Exchange Commission for “misleading investors with tweets,” CNBC reported. The run-in with the SEC also resulted in Musk needing to have some of his tweets screened by Tesla’s lawyers.
In recent weeks, Musk has criticized Twitter for “failing to adhere to free speech principles,” and has even said he was considering building a new social media platform.
