Elon Musk is already a winner in his giant investment in Twitter.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder’s 9.2% stake in the social media giant — valued at $2.89 billion when markets closed on Friday — has already increased in value by $800 million, to $3.68 billion.
Credit Monday’s 27% jump in Twitter’s share price, which closed at $49.97, after the company disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Musk had become its biggest shareholder.
The early-morning news was embraced by Wall Street, which boosted shares to their highest level since last November and lifted the social media giant’s market cap to $40.01 billion.
Musk’s investment follows his public criticism of the platform’s content moderation policies. Last month, he even suggested that he might create his own social network. Although details are short on Musk’s exact plans for Twitter, he has been vocal about the platform failing to uphold its free speech policies.
On March 25, Musk tweeted: “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” More than 70% of some 2 million users on Twitter responded, “No.”
Musk has been critical of Twitter in the past, and of the SEC after he tweeted in 2018 about having secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share. He later settled by stepping down as chairman of the company and remaining its CEO. Last year, Parag Agarwal took over as Twitter’s CEO from founder Jack Dorsey.
