Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, has disclosed that he has acquired 9.2% of the shares of the company Twitter Inc.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the South African-born billionaire bought 73,486,938 (73 million) common shares. According to the average closing price on Friday, this acquisition is valued at no less than $2.8 billion.
Twitter’s share price immediately registered a significant rise. Other crypto-currencies, including Dogecoin, followed suit.
Elon Musk named to Twitter board of directors
Less than 24 hours after the announcement of the purchase of 10% of the shares of the company Twitter, Parag Agrawal, recently elected CEO of Twitter announced, through the social network, the new position of Elon Musk on the board.
The billionaire thus joins Twitter’s board of directors, gaining all the more directional power within the famous blue bird.
An acquisition for free speech?
Twitter is Elon Musk‘s playground and he expresses himself there very frequently. He has more than 80 million followers. The multi-billionaire recently criticized Twitter for some of the measures it has put in place, including the moderation – by Twitter – of certain content deemed inappropriate.
In addition, Elon Musk surveyed his Twitter community in March. He asked his members if they thought Twitter respected freedom of speech or not. Voters overwhelmingly answered no.
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
The result is quite evocative. More than 70% of the respondents (more than 2 million voters) believe that Twitter does not respect the principles of freedom of expression. The buyer of the Twitter shares concludes that this non-respect is fundamentally detrimental to democracy.
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
What should be done? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
At the moment, it is not clear whether the billionaire will have an active or passive participation in the Twitter company. However, the share price did not wait to react as it took almost 25% at the opening of the stock market this Monday, April 4, 2022.
Dogecoin follows Twitter’s stock price
Twitter’s stock price isn’t the only one that has seen a rise. The price of Dogecoin, one of Elon Musk’s favorite crypto-currencies, also seems to be benefiting from the news.
Usually more volatile than stocks, the crypto’s price has been more timid, recording a 10% increase over the past 24 hours.
