The billionaire bought 9.2 percent of the company, worth nearly $ 3 billion (2, 2.3 billion), according to a statement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Oh hi lol”, was his only tweet after the announcement, which led to Twitter shares rising more than 25%. Mr. Musk is one of the most popular Twitter users, with more than 80 million followers. He is also very productive, using his account to share memes as well as inform about his life and his companies. However, these tweets have caused problems for Mr. Musk in the past. In 2018, for example, he wrote on Twitter that Tesla would enter privacy – beginning a period seen by the SEC as well as the loss of his position as president of the company. In recent weeks, Musk has used his account to post about Twitter itself and the rules that govern it. On March 24, he wrote on Twitter that he was “concerned about the de facto bias in the Twitter algorithm that has a significant impact on public debate” and shared a poll calling on his followers to vote on whether the algorithm should be open source. A day later, he wrote on Twitter that “freedom of speech is essential for a functioning democracy” and polled his followers on whether they believed “Twitter strictly adheres to this principle.” After 70.4 percent of respondents voted no, he asked fans “what should be done?” Mr Musk bought his shares on Twitter before those posts – SEC deposits show the purchase took place on March 14 – although they were only revealed today.
