Elon Musk becomes Twitter’s largest shareholder after taking a 9.2% stake in the company

Just a week after hinting he might build his own social media platform, Elon Musk has taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter making him the social media platform’s biggest shareholder.

Shares of Twitter surged about 26% in premarket trading immediately after the news.  The stake, which was revealed Monday in a regulatory filing, is worth about $2.89 billion based on Friday’s market close.

On March 26, Musk hinted at launching his own social media platform due to Twitter’s failure to promote free speech. Then in a follow-up tweet, Elon Musk told his 79 million Twitter followers that he’s giving “serious thought” to the idea of creating his own social media platform. The revelation came after Musk’s friend Pranay Pathole asked in a tweet if Musk would consider building a new social media platform.

Musk, 50, polled his more than 80 million followers on Twitter last month, asking them whether the company adheres to the principles of free speech. After more than 70% said no, he asked whether a new platform was needed and said he was giving serious thought to starting his own.

Musk’s friend, Pranay Pathole, asked in a tweet if Musk would consider building a new social media platform.

“Would you consider building a new social media platform, @elonmusk ? One that would consist an open source algorithm, one where free speech and adhering to free speech is given top priority, one where propaganda is very minimal. I think that kind of a platform is needed.”

Musk responded, “Am giving serious thought to this.”

https://twitter.com/PPathole/status/1507780749629730817

Meanwhile, it all started on March 24, when Musk first asserted that the “Twitter algorithm should be open source.”  Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey, immediately responded by saying that “the choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone.”