Posted in: 17/08/2022 – 10:56Last updated: 17/08/2022 – 10:52
Washington (AFP) – Billionaire Elon Musk, head of Tesla and SpaceX, denied Tuesday night his desire to buy Manchester United, a few hours following he published a widely circulated tweet expressing his intention.
“No, it’s a joke… I didn’t plan to buy any gym,” Musk wrote on Twitter, following his first tweet in a few hours had nearly half a million likes across the social network.
In this first tweet, Musk, who is used to making unexpected and provocative statements on Twitter, said, “I will also buy Manchester United, you are welcome.”
“However, if it was any team, it would be Manchester United. They were my favorite team during my childhood,” Musk later added, following denying he had bought United.
In response to a question by AFP, neither Tesla nor the management of the English club, which is controlled by the Glazer family, immediately responded to this first tweet.
The value of Manchester United, which has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange for nearly a decade, is $2.08 billion.
And following its share price closed on Tuesday at $12.78 (+0.08%), this price declined by 2.11% in electronic trading following the closing.
Although no shareholder has a majority stake, Manchester United is controlled by the six sons of American businessman Malcolm Glazer who acquired the club in 2005.
Despite being one of the most famous sports clubs in the world, Manchester United is going through a severe crisis in terms of results, which angers many of its fans on social media.
Last Saturday, the “Red Devils” suffered a resounding loss in Brentford (4-0), and they came to the last place in the English Premier League following two defeats in two matches.
The club’s management faced severe protests from the fans in April of last year, following it wanted to participate in a project for an independent European League (Super League), a plan that was eventually canceled.
United, along with five other English, three Spanish and three Italian clubs, wanted to create a European competition for the Champions League, an initiative that sparked significant political and sporting protests, as well as strong reactions from fans of the clubs involved.
As for Elon Musk, he recently sold nearly $7 billion of shares in his electric car group Tesla while he was in the midst of a legal battle over his failed Twitter takeover.
© 2022 AFP
