Elon Musk made ~$750 million in 5 hours from his 9.2% stake in Twitter, which is about twice Twitter’s net income for the last 3 years

There’s a popular saying that you need money to make money. That’s exactly what happened to the world’s richest person and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Earlier today, we reported that Musk took a 9.2% stake in Twitter for a total of about $2.89 billion based on Friday’s market close, making Musk the social media platform’s largest shareholder.

Immediately after the news, Twitter shares soar more than 29%, making Musk about $750 million in profit in just 6 hours from his $2.89 investment. The amount is approximately twice Twitter’s net income for the last 3 years.

Musk now owns 73,486,938 shares of Twitter, which represents a 9.2% passive stake in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing released Monday.

The purchase comes less than two weeks after Musk criticized Twitter, polling people on Twitter about whether it adheres to free speech principles. “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted. “What should be done?”

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

Hat off to the founder of Stratechery Ben Thompson who first reported the news.

(technically Twitter’s last 3.25 years, but they had a charge in there, so included it)

— Ben Thompson (@benthompson) April 4, 2022

Ben also cautioned, “(And yes, you don’t make money until you sell, and yes, I’m already regretting the replies to this when I wake up…).”

(And yes, you don’t make money until you sell, and yes, I’m already regretting the replies to this when I wake up…)

— Ben Thompson (@benthompson) April 4, 2022