Elon Musk Tweets Plan To Buy Manchester United; Is He Serious?

Manchester United supporters are familiar with their missed opportunities after watching eight coaches come and go in less than ten years. The conflict at the massive football club took on a new hue on Wednesday when Elon Musk first declared he was buying it before retracting his statement.

The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, claimed early on Wednesday that he was just kidding when he tweeted that he was going to purchase Manchester United Plc, which is currently facing difficulties at the bottom of the English Premier League.

"No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I'm not buying any sports teams," Musk posted on the social media platform when asked by a user if he was serious about buying the club when he tweeted earlier, "I'm buying Manchester United ur (sic) welcome."

"Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U," he added. "They were my fav (sic) team as a kid."

Fans Urge Musk To Buy United

Several Manchester United supporters have already pushed Musk to think about purchasing the team on Twitter, lamenting what they perceive to be underinvestment at one of the largest football clubs in the world, as per a report from Reuters.

Despite the efforts of a cast of eight regular and temporary coaches since Sir Alex Ferguson's days, United has not won the English league championship. Ferguson claimed the last of their record 20 victories in 2013.

The football club, based in northern England, has more than 32 million followers on Twitter, and Musk's initial tweet about the team received more than 500,000 "likes" within six hours.

One of the world's most successful soccer clubs, the "Red Devils" are struggling at the bottom of England's Premier League, and, having seen eight coaches come and go in less than 10 years, some fans and investors are wondering whether it's time for the club's owners, the American Glazer family, to sell it.

Some of the club's fans had previously urged Musk on Twitter to consider buying United. But some users didn't take it too seriously, comparing the post with Musk's troubled run at buying Twitter (TWTR.N).

Controversial Twitter User

Mars colonization and the creation of a new, sustainable energy economy are among Musk's objectives. Throughout the process, he created Tesla, a manufacturer of electric cars; SpaceX, and several other smaller firms. One is the tunnel-building company known as the Boring Company.

In the past, regulators in the United States have taken issue with Musk because of his tweets about prospective acquisitions, per CNA.

He tweeted in 2018 that a $72 billion proposal to take Tesla, private, had "funding secured," but he never made an offer. According to Al Jazeera, to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegations that Musk deceived investors, Musk and Tesla each paid $20 million in civil fines, and Musk stepped down as chairman of Tesla.

Swissquote Bank Senior Analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya believes Musk and United would not be an ideal match. He noted the tech mogul "and his expertise doesn't add value to Manchester U unless he aims to replace players with robots."

Elon Musk's net worth is estimated at $270 billion, according to Forbes.

Tags

Elon Musk, Manchester united, Business, Twitter, Tesla, Spacex