Musk, the world’s richest man, said early Wednesday that he was not serious when he tweeted hours earlier that he was going to buy Manchester United Plc ( MANU.N ), now languishing at the foot of the English Premier League as it feeds -The up fans are urging the current owners, the American Glazer family, to sell. “No, this is a long running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports team,” Musk tweeted when asked by a user if he was serious about buying the club, after he had posted: “I’m buying Manchester United. You’re welcome.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Although if it was any team it would be Man U,” he added, rubbing salt in the wound for some: “They were my favorite (sic) team as a kid.” Some Manchester United fans have previously urged Musk on Twitter to consider buying the club, protesting what they see as a lack of investment in one of the world’s biggest football clubs. United have not won the English league title since legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed the last of their 20 wins in 2013, despite the efforts of a cast of eight permanent and interim managers since then. In early reactions before Musk said he was only joking, some users mockingly compared his tweet to his troubled run to buy Twitter ( TWTR.N ) or appeared to see it as nothing more than a joke. The Northern England-based club has more than 32 million followers on its main Twitter account and Musk’s first tweet about the club garnered more than 500,000 ‘likes’ on the platform within six hours. After Musk said he was joking, Manchester United Fanatics Club Hungary said: “It’s just a tweet from someone who doesn’t always think twice before writing something (sic).” The Manchester United Fans’ Club Kolkata said: “It has re-established the fact that Elon and his tweets are just gimmicks. Although it would be great if he actually invested 1/10 of what he paid for Twitter to own this legendary club… The whole fan base is sick and tired of the Glazers.” In early trading in the club’s Frankfurt-listed shares, the stock was up 2.5%.
ASEBIS PLAOS
Musk is now seeking to back out of a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter just four months after the platform announced it would buy the social media company, which has landed him in court. He has a history of being unconventional and posting irreverent tweets, making it sometimes difficult to tell when he’s joking. FILE PHOTO” Soccer Soccer – Premier League – Brentford – Manchester United – Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain – August 13, 2022 Manchester United fans display a banner in protest against the Glazers’ ownership inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/ David Klein read more “Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put cocaine back in,” he tweeted on April 27, two days after Twitter’s board accepted his unsolicited bid to buy the company. Referring to that post, he tweeted on Wednesday: “And I’m not buying Coca-Cola to bring back cocaine, despite the extreme popularity of such a move.” Musk’s tweets about potential acquisitions have landed him in hot water with US regulators in the past. In 2018, he tweeted that there was “secured financing” for a $72 billion deal to take Tesla private, but did not proceed with an offer. Musk and Tesla each paid civil fines of $20 million — and Musk stepped down as Tesla chairman — to resolve allegations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Musk defrauded investors. The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk’s tweet that he was buying the club outside of regular business hours. Musk’s ambitions range from colonizing Mars to creating a new sustainable energy economy, and in the process he has created the world’s most valuable car company, electric vehicle maker Tesla, rocket company SpaceX and a host of smaller companies. One is a tunnel builder called the Boring Company.
WIDE CONTRAST
The clamor from fans and pundits for a change in ownership of the three winners of the European Cup, the world’s most prestigious club competition, has intensified. British newspaper The Daily Mirror reported last year that the Glazers, who have faced widespread opposition from fans over their stewardship since acquiring the club in 2005 for 790 million pounds ($957 million), were prepared to sell but only if they were offered more from 4 billion pounds. In its annual ranking this year, Forbes rated Manchester United, with its massive global fan base, the world’s third most valuable soccer club at $4.6 billion, behind only Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona. But shares in the New York-listed soccer club have fallen by a quarter in the past 12 months, valuing it at just over $2 billion. The stock has rebounded over the past month, gaining 16% to close at $12.78 on Tuesday. Musk and his lawyer did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on his initial Twitter post before his message that he was joking. The Florida-based Glazer family did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Manchester United themselves declined to comment. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru and Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco. Written by Peter Henderson, Michael Perry and Sayantani Ghosh. Editing by Aditya Soni, Neil Fullick and Kenneth Maxwell Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
