- Kyle Chua
Change in Man Utd? Elon Musk Jokes About Buying the Football Club
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wants to get into the business of international football – or at least that's what his Twitter followers thought when he tweeted he wanted to buy Manchester United.
The controversial billionaire's tweet on Wednesday, 17 August seemingly sent both his followers and football fans into a frenzy, wondering whether he was actually serious about buying the English football club, which is said to be up for sale. Musk, however, later revealed it was all just a joke.
"No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I'm not buying any sports teams," he posted after being asked about his previous tweets.
Musk appears to have a knack for jokes and gags on Twitter. He previously tweeted he wanted to buy Coca-Cola to put cocaine back in the popular drink. Still, even his longtime followers might find it hard to tell if he's joking or not most of the time because he has the means to buy what he wants. He remains the wealthiest man in the world, with an estimated net worth nearing US$266 billion.
Then again, the joke can seem a little ill-timed, given how he's still caught in a legal dispute with Twitter over his acquisition bid for the company. Musk supposedly now wants to terminate the US$44 billion deal to buy Twitter, citing the company's failure to provide him with the information he requested about the number of fake accounts on the platform.
If Musk wasn't joking though, he would have probably made headlines around the world again. The owners of Manchester United, the Glazer family, are reportedly now being pressured to sell the team after years of its underperforming. The team, as of writing sits at last place in the English Premier League, losing its last game to Brentford with a 4-0 score.
Musk's legal battle with Twitter is still ongoing, so only time will tell if he'll eventually be forced to proceed with the initial deal or not.
Elon Musk recently tweeted he wanted to buy the English football club Manchester United, which has been underperforming in the last couple of years.
The controversial billionaire, however, later revealed he was just joking about the tweet.
Musk's legal dispute with Twitter is still ongoing after he backed out of his initial bid to buy the company for US$44 billion.