Tech mogul and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has just become the largest shareholder of Twitter stock.
On Monday, it was revealed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that Elon Musk purchased a whopping $2.89 billion worth of Twitter stock on March 14, 2022. By acquiring 73,486,938 shares, Musk now has a 9.2% stake in the company – the largest of its kind.
The purchase makes Musk an even larger shareholder than Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who only owns 2.25% of the company.
Musk’s purchase follows a series of tweets in which Musk contemplated what to do about the growing threat to freedom of expression. In March, Musk tweeted about how Twitter failed to adhere to “free speech principles.”
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?” Musk tweeted on March 26.
“Is a new platform needed?”
The company’s shares soared by over 26% following Musk’s decision to buy stock. Musk hasn’t made a public statement about the purchase yet besides tweeting a simple greeting on Monday morning.
Twitter users had many questions following the announcement. Will he make Twitter unban former US President Donald Trump? Will the platform now shift towards being free-speech-oriented?
Concerns about the direction of the platform reached a new peak after Twitter announced its new CEO, 37-year-old Parag Agrawal. During a 2018 interview, Agrawal stated that Twitter should “focus less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed.”
Musk has gotten recent heat from others for posting controversial statements on Twitter. As a supporter of the Canadian Freedom Convoy, Musk was forced to take down a tweet in which he compared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Hitler.
“If [the] Canadian government is suppressing peaceful protests, that’s where fascism lies,” Musk tweeted in February.
