Tesla CEO Elon Musk just bought 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, but is this enough to make a change in the social media platform's policies? With his tweets, the Tesla boss regularly makes headlines on the short message service Twitter – now he is becoming the largest Twitter shareholder.
Elon Musk has acquired a billion-dollar stake in the social media company, as documents from the US Securities and Exchange Commission show.
More precisely, Tesla's CEO bought 73,486,938 shares of Twitter, which is worth around $2.9 billion as of Friday’s close or about 9.2% of the entire company.
Elon Musk's tweets are very interesting and informative. He’s not buying to shut it down. He is getting in it. So he can actually have it uncensored.
But how can Musk make a difference in Twitter policy just by owning 9.2%? It's not like he has 51% of the company. If he buys at least 51% perhaps he can make some great changes. However, he may be able to push for a board seat as he is now the largest shareholder of Twitter.
Musk had criticized the company less than two weeks ago. In a tweet he criticized the "non-compliance with the principles of freedom of expression" and spoke of an "undermining of democracy". The Tesla boss is said to have thought about setting up an alternative offer. Now, as the largest single shareholder, he could exert influence on the management of the group.
Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.
