Takeover? Twitter Stock Skyrockets as Public Learns Musk Owns Huge Portion of Company
In a takeoff reminiscent of SpaceX, Twitter stock rocketed upward Monday after the news hit Wall Street that Elon Musk acquired a stake in the social media giant.
By the time trading ended, Twitter’s stock was up 27 percent, according to CNBC.
That was the second-best jump in Twitter’s history. Its all-time best day was Nov. 7, 2013, when its IPO hit and its stock rose 73 percent.
As noted by Time, the purchase of 9.2 percent of Twitter’s stock made Musk Twitter’s biggest shareholder.
The enigmatic Musk’s purchase led commentators to speculate something dramatic is in the works.
“He’s kind of coming in friendly right now,” said Gene Munster, managing partner of Loup Ventures, according to The Washington Post.
“He’s the most famous person in the world, and he has pretty loyal fans. There’s some unique things that only he can do as a shareholder-activist,” he said.
Elon Musk’s purchase of 9.2% of Twitter will hopefully result in mass firings and resignations. The only way to fix Twitter is to purge the rot.
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) April 4, 2022
Others also said this was likely to be the beginning of whatever the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has in mind.
“Considering what a small investment this is for him (~1% of net worth), we would not be surprised to see him increase his stake even further, and potentially assume a more active role in the decision-making at the company,” Truist Securities’ analysts said in a Monday note, CNBC reported
Bloomberg estimates Musk’s net worth at $288 billion as of Monday.
“We would expect this passive stake as just the start of broader conversations with the Twitter board/management that could ultimately lead to an active stake and a potential more aggressive ownership role of Twitter,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, according to The New York Times.
Musk is sending a “strong signal” to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, Cathie Wood, founder and chief executive officer of Ark Investment Management LLC, said, according to Bloomberg.
“This could be setting up for another leadership change,” she said. Agrawal took over in November upon the departure of former CEO Jack Dorsey.
Twitter is not commenting on Musk’s purchase.
Musk had indicated he might start a social media platform, objecting to the fact that Twitter tends to moderate free speech.
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? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted March 26. “What should be done?”
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