Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a 9.2% stake in Twitter, a filing showed on Monday. The move makes him one of the largest shareholders of the social media platform.
The deal was revealed through an SEC filing from Twitter, which showed Musk purchased about 73 million shares in the firm. Based on Twitter’s last stock price on Friday, Musk’s stake is valued at roughly $2.9 billion.
According to data from CNN, Musk’s acquisition would make him the largest shareholder in Twitter. The Vanguard Group, which is currently ranked as the top shareholder in the firm, holds 8.4% of all shares.
Elon Musk the social media magnate?
The move comes following a recent Twitter poll by Musk, where he asked his followers whether they believed Twitter rigorously adheres to the principle of free speech. 70% of the two million respondents had answered no.
The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.
–Musk
Following the poll, Musk also said he was giving “serious thought” to building his own social media platform, one that would value free speech over all else.
But according to Bloomberg, Musk’s 9.2% stake in Twitter is a passive one. As such, it is unclear how much the Tesla CEO intends to participate in the social network’s governance.
Musk and Twitter have a complicated relationship
Musk, a frequent user of the platform, has drawn ire several times for his activities on Twitter. But he has also drawn eyeballs, and currently the eighth-most followed account, at 80 million followers.
The Tesla CEO has frequently gotten into hot water over his tweets, particularly with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He recently called a 2018 order for some of tweets to be pre-approved an attack on his right to free speech.
Musk also tweets frequently about the crypto market, with his comments usually sparking a sharp movement in the space.
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