Elon Musk's "joke" angers Manchester United fans
Billionaire Elon Musk, head of Tesla and SpaceX, denied yesterday his desire to buy Manchester United, a few hours after he posted a widely circulated tweet expressing his intention.
"No, it's a joke, I didn't plan to buy any sports club," Musk wrote on Twitter, after his first tweet in a few hours attracted nearly half a million likes across the social network, angering Manchester United supporters desperate to get rid of the family. The American Glazer is the current owner of Manchester United.
In this first tweet, Musk, who is used to making unexpected and provocative statements on Twitter, said, "I will also buy Manchester United, you are welcome."
"However, if it was any team, it would be Manchester United. They were my favorite team during my childhood," Musk later added, after denying he had bought United.
In response to a question by AFP, neither Tesla nor the management of the English club, which is controlled by the American Glazer family, immediately responded to this first tweet.
The value of Manchester United, which has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange for nearly a decade, is $2.08 billion.
And after its share price closed on Tuesday at $12.78 (+0.08%), this price declined by 2.11% in electronic trading after the closing.
Although no shareholder owns a majority stake, Manchester United is controlled by the six sons of American businessman Malcolm Glazer, who acquired the club in 2005.
Despite being one of the most famous sports clubs in the world, Manchester United is going through a severe crisis in terms of results, which is what It angers many of his fans on social media.
And last Saturday, the "Red Devils" suffered a resounding loss in Brentford (4-0), and they came to the last place in the English Premier League after two defeats in two matches.
The club's management faced severe protests from the fans in April of last year, after it wanted to participate in the renegade European Super League project (Super League), a plan that was eventually canceled.
United, along with five other English, three Spanish and three Italian clubs, wanted to create a European competition for the Champions League, an initiative that sparked significant political and sporting protests, as well as strong reactions from fans of the clubs involved.
As for Elon Musk, he recently sold nearly $7 billion of shares in his electric car group Tesla while he was in the midst of a legal battle over his failed Twitter takeover.
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