SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Billionaire Elon Musk, who previously said he would buy two publicly traded Silicon Valley companies and take them private before not doing so, said he was joking when he tweeted that he would buy a publicly traded English soccer team.
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Musk claimed on Tuesday night that he would buy Premier League club Manchester United, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted that he would buy the 20-time champions of England's top flight during a short Twitter thread.
The 51-year-old tweeted later that night that his initial tweet was merely an allusion to "a long-running joke on Twitter," before alluding to a previous tweet joking that he would buy the Coca-Cola Company, which is also publicly traded.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018 fined Musk and Tesla $20 million each when the billionaire tweeted that he would take the electric vehicle company – formerly based in Palo Alto – private for $420 per share, which federal regulators said in a complaint caused the company's stock price to jump by 6% and led to "significant market disruption." Officials alleged "Musk new the potential transaction was uncertain and subject to numerous contingencies."
A spokesperson for the SEC declined KCBS Radio's request for comment about Musk's claim he would buy Manchester United, which was sent prior to Musk's follow-up tweet that he was joking.
Musk agreed earlier this year to buy San Francisco-based Twitter for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share, and take the company private.
Twitter and Musk are suing each other in Delaware's Court of Chancery after Musk announced in July that he was pulling out of a deal to buy the social media platform because the social media inadequately measured its number of fake users.
If the sides don't settle, Musk and Twitter will go to trial on Oct. 17. Twitter shareholders will vote on the purchase on Sept. 13, and the company is suing Musk to follow through on his agreement, which included a $1 billion termination fee.
Manchester United’s initial public offering was on Aug. 10, 2012, ahead of the last season in which the club – arguably England's most prestigious – won its last Premier League title. The American Glazer family owns 69% of Manchester United's shares after selling about 8% last October and has held majority control of the team since 2005.
A Manchester United spokesperson told KCBS Radio they do not comment on rumors or speculation.
United supporters have expressed vocal dissatisfaction with the Glazers' ownership for years, with one group of fans organizing its third protest of 2022 for next weekend's match against rival Liverpool. After a 4-0 loss to Brentford – a club playing in only its second Premier League season – last weekend, the Manchester United Supporters Trust said in a statement that it held the Glazers "primarily responsible for the new low in our club’s decline."
“On behalf of Manchester United fans everywhere, we demand urgent and radical change," the group said. "And we as fans – all of us – need to stick together."
Manchester United’s market capitalization was $2.08 billion as of Tuesday, far less than the $70 billion that Tesla would’ve been valued had Musk actually taken the company private and the $44 billion purchase price he agreed with Twitter.
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