Tesla’s Elon Musk now Twitter’s largest shareholder

Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired a 9 percent stake in Twitter to become its largest shareholder at a time when he is questioning the social media platform’s dedication to free speech and the First Amendment.

The ultimate aim of Musk’s 73.5 million share purchase, worth about $3 billion, is not known. Yet in late March Musk, who has 80 million Twitter followers and is active on the site, questioned free speech on Twitter and whether the platform is undermining democracy.

It’s unclear just when Musk bought the stake. A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public on Monday says the event triggering the filing happened March 14.

Musk has also raised the possibility with his massive and loyal Twitter following, that he could create a rival social media network.

Industry analysts and legal experts say Musk could begin advocating for changes at Twitter immediately if he chooses.

In a note to investors, CFRA Analyst Angelo Zino wrote that Twitter could be viewed as an acquisition target because the value of its shares have been falling since early last year.

Jack Dorsey stepped down as CEO in November. Musk’s stake in Twitter is now more than four times the size of Dorsey’s, who co-founded the San Francisco company and had been the largest individual shareholder.

“Musk’s actual investment is a very small percentage of his wealth, and an all-out buyout should not be ruled out,” wrote Zino, who covers Twitter and social media.

Musk could see Twitter as an investment with big growth ahead, or he could have noninvestment reasons for the purchase, such as buying to make sure the platform doesn’t restrain his speech, said Erik Gordon, a law and business professor at the University of Michigan.

“What he could be worried about is if enough of his tweets start to look like disinformation, that Twitter says ‘we’re doing our job against disinformation.’” Gordon said.

No CEO would refuse to take a call from the company’s top shareholder, so the purchase gives Musk access to Twitter’s top management, he said.

Musk has not spoken specifically about how he would change rules at Twitter, but the social media platform’s history of suspensions and bans is well documented.

Former President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and other top social media platforms following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot last year that critics accused him of inciting. The ban has raised difficult questions about free speech in a social media industry dominated by a few tech giants — an issue that Trump and conservative media have seized upon.

There was broad praise for Musk from those circles Monday.

Michael Flynn, the retired general who served briefly as Donald Trump’s national security adviser, and who was suspended from Twitter in January 2021, urged Musk via Telegram to make changes at Twitter.

“Hey Elon, how about letting all of those dropped from twitter for being America First and ProTrump back on Twitter!!!,” Flynn wrote.

Twitter earlier this year banned the personal account of far-right U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for multiple violations of the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy. Other people banned in recent years include Steve Bannon, for suggesting the beheading of Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke for breaking the social media site’s rules forbidding hate speech, and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars show for abusive behavior.

Musk recently described himself on Twitter as a “free speech absolutist” in explaining why the Starlink satellite internet service — part of his aerospace company SpaceX — would not block Russian state media outlets, which have spread propaganda and misinformation in line with the Kremlin’s narrative on its war in Ukraine.