Tesla Inc. top CEO Elon Musk announced a 9.2% stake in the microblogging site on Monday, likely making him the largest shareholder in the social media company and a 26% increase in his stakes triggers.
Mr Musk’s move follows his tweet that he was “seriously” considering building a new social media platform while questioning Twitter’s commitment to free speech.
A filing showed that Mr. Musk owns 73.5 million Twitter shares and values his passive stake in the company at up to $2.9 billion based on the stock’s Friday close. The shares are held by the Elon Musk Revocable Trust, of which he is the sole trustee.
A prolific Twitter user, Mr. Musk has over 80 million followers since joining the site in 2009 and has used the platform to make several announcements, including teasing a go-private deal for Tesla, which would subjected to an official examination.
However, he has recently criticized the social media platform and its policies, saying the company is undermining democracy by not abiding by the principles of free speech.
“We would expect this passive participation to be just the beginning of broader discussions with Twitter’s board/management that could ultimately lead to active participation and potentially more aggressive ownership by Twitter,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note.
Mr Musk has sold his stake in Tesla since November, when he said he would sell 10% of his stake in the electric carmaker. Since then he has already sold shares worth $16.4 billion.
Twitter was the target of activist investor Elliott Management Corp in 2020, when the hedge fund argued that its then-boss and co-founder, Jack Dorsey, was paying too little attention to Twitter while running Square.
Mr. Dorsey stepped down as CEO and chairman in November last year, but still owns a 2.25% stake in the company, making him the sixth-largest shareholder, according to Refinitiv data.
Meanwhile, Mr. Musk and Mr. Dorsey have found common ground by rejecting the so-called Web3, a vague term for a utopian version of the internet that is decentralized.
Twitter was not immediately available for comment. Shares of other social media companies, including Meta Platforms and Snapchat owner Snap Inc, also traded higher on the news.
