I buy Manchester United. Indeed no. Elon Musk falls back and on Twitter announces the intention to acquire the majority of the English football team, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He does so in a series of messages published on the social media in which he first says he politically supports “the left of the Republican Party” in the United States and “the right of the Democratic Party”. Then he adds: “Also I’m about to buy Manchester United”. Then four and a half hours of silence before the denial: “It’s a joke, I’m not going to buy any team”.
However, enough time for the news to bounce on news agencies around the world and for the title of Cristiano Ronaldo’s team to run. Wall Street comes to earn 17% and continue the good performance after the bell rang at the S&P 500, where it gained 5% at $ 13.5.
But it was just a game. Yet another social game of the richest man in the world, apparently not very aware of the effects that his messages have on the value of companies. However, the current ownership of Manchester United reveals Bloomberg, it could really be willing to sell a stake in the company. The pressures received in these difficult years would be too much, with a team that no longer seems able to excel in the English top division.
The agreement
Musk wants the names of those on Twitter who counted the fake accounts. And he confronts an Italian
by Arcangelo Rociola
Did Musk know? The discussed use of Twitter since 2018
Was Musk in the dark about everything? Hard to say. However, the Security and Exchange Commission (US Consob) has already targeted Musk’s use of Twitter several times. Year 2018. Tesla’s number one on Twitter announces that he has secured the necessary liquidity to buy all of Tesla’s free float and take the company off the New York Stock Exchange.
The stock of the electric car maker begins to soar until Musk himself is forced to admit that his was nothing but a joke. A game. Another. The SEC investigates him for the casual use of social media, due to market disruption, to the point of imposing a ‘Twitter-sitter’, a consultant who avoids the publication of posts capable of disturbing the market. Little did it help.
The analysis
Musk, Twitter and the role of bots. A brief history of a marriage that never happened
by Arcangelo Rociola
A few months later he announced Tesla’s bankruptcy. Always on Twitter. Here too it was a joke. It was the first of April. But the news spread to some American media that relaunched the bankruptcy of the South African entrepreneur’s company.
Also on Twitter, Musk in April first announced the decision to buy the social network founded by Jack Dorsey for 44 billion, then the renunciation of the purchase accusing the company of lying about the number of fake accounts on the platform. Announcements that, as always, have an impact on the share price of the company, which has lost about 15% of its value on the Nasdaq since April. While a Delaware court will decide on the fate of the agreement wanted and then canceled by Musk in October.
Tweets about cryptocurrencies. The stock meme phenomenon
Musk on Twitter has always shown that he can move billions simply by sharing an opinion. He was among the main architects in January 2021 of the phenomenon of ‘meme stock‘, the rush to buy shares in companies that hedge funds believed to be zombies, but raised by micro investors who, through trading platforms, had brought billions into the coffers of companies.
The most sensational case was that of GameStop, the Texan chain of video game stores ditched by American edge funds with short sales that jeopardized their existence on the stock market and relieved of the bets of hundreds of thousands of micro investors who on Reddit gave themselves indications on how and how many shares to buy . Result? GameStop reborn, hedge funds lose tens of billions.
The case
Why Elon Musk is so interested in births in Italy (and in the rest of the world)
by Pier Luigi Pisa
As well as being the main fan of cryptocurrencies, contributing to the value rush of Bitcoin and other smaller digital currencies such as Dogecoin. The announcement of accepting bitcoin payments in January 2021 was enough to make the virtual currency appreciate by 20% in a few days.
The story is always the same, for five years now: Musk tweets, the market responds. Whether it’s for very small American traders or investment funds. How long it will last is hard to say. The American authorities do not seem willing to let him act freely on the already mined field of investments.