Musk Buys 9pc Stake In Twitter, Tipped To Go 'active'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, purchasing approximately 73.5 million shares, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

Musk's stake in Twitter is considered a passive investment, which means he is a long-term investor looking to minimise any buying and selling of shares.

However, Musk has in recent weeks raised questions about free speech on Twitter and whether failing to adhere to its basic principles undermines democracy.

He has also pondered starting up a rival social media network and industry analysts are sceptical about whether he will remain on the sidelines for long.

“We would expect this passive stake as just the start of broader conversations with the Twitter board/management that could ultimately lead to an active stake and a potential more aggressive ownership role of Twitter," Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said in a client note early on Monday.

Twitter's stock surged 25 percent before the opening bell on Monday.

Musk told his 80 million-plus followers on Twitter on March 27 that he was “giving serious thought" to creating a rival social media platform and has clashed repeatedly with financial regulators about his use of Twitter.

Early last month, Musk asked a federal judge to nullify a subpoena from securities regulators and overrule a 2018 court agreement in which Musk had to have someone pre-approve his posts on Twitter.

US securities regulators said they had legal authority to subpoena Tesla and Musk about his tweets, and that Musk’s move to throw out the court agreement was not valid.

Musk has been selling his stake in Tesla since November, when he said he would offload 10% of his holding in the electric-car maker. He has already sold US$16.4 billion worth of Tesla shares since then. (AP)