Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday, “I’m not acquiring any sports clubs,” dismissing rumors that he might purchase Manchester United as a joke. The world’s wealthiest billionaire often posts controversial tweets for fun, and he did it again when he informed his more than 103 million followers, “Also, I’m purchasing Manchester United’s welcome.”
The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the remark in response to another of his tweets about supporting both main political parties in the United States.
The 51-year-old, who is mired in a lawsuit for his attempt to purchase Twitter, was subsequently questioned on the site whether he was serious about acquiring Manchester United.
No, this is a long-running Twitter joke. I will not purchase any sports franchises.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022
“No, this is a long-running Twitter joke. Musk answered, “I’m not purchasing any sports teams,” after his first tweet received almost 500,000 “likes.” “within a few hours.
“However, if it were any team, it would be Manchester United. They were my favorite team growing up.”
Manchester United is one of the largest clubs in worldwide soccer, but it has been through a protracted decline. This has infuriated its legions of supporters across the globe, many of whom want the club sold by its present owners, the U.S. Glazer family.
Manchester United Fans Protest the Glazer Family’s Ownership
Manchester United fans demonstrate against the Glazer family’s ownership of the club on April 24, 2021, outside the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England.
United and its owners did not respond immediately to Musk’s comments.
The market valuation of the club listed on the New York Stock Exchange was $2.1 billion as of Tuesday’s close, despite the fact that the team’s shares were down year to date.
Despite his claim that it was a joke, Musk’s tweet might cause him extra trouble with U.S. authorities. The inventor of Tesla, who just sold roughly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, is engaged in a massive court dispute in the U.S. state of Delaware over his abandoned proposal to acquire Twitter.
He indicated that he sold the shares in preparation for a possible loss in the legal battle over his purchase of Twitter, stating in a message on the platform: “It is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock in the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don’t come through.
Musk has been at odds with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for many years, since since he and his auto firm agreed to pay $20 million each in penalties to resolve claims that he deceived investors via his Twitter account about prospective intentions to acquire Tesla in its entirety. That never transpired. As part of the agreement with the SEC, Musk was instructed to get legal clearance before tweeting any material that may impact Tesla’s stock price. Regulators assert that he has sometimes breached these conditions, which he thinks constrain him unjustly.
Fans of Manchester United have demonstrated against the team’s American top management over the team’s dismal performance in recent years and their participation in a proposal to build a new “Super League” of Europe’s wealthiest clubs. In Florida, the Glazers also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.
Manchester United, often known as the Red Devils, finished sixth in the English Premier League past season. The team is now at the bottom of the standings following two consecutive losses under its new coach, Erik ten Hag, and has had another terrible start to the season.
On August 22, before to United’s next home game against bitter rivals Liverpool, more demonstrations against the Glazers were scheduled.