Elon Musk said his tweet about buying Manchester United was a “joke” as the English football club became the latest publicly traded company to find itself the subject of a cryptic tweet from the Tesla boss.
Late Tuesday, after a tweet about US politics, Musk appeared to poke fun at his troubled record trying to buy public companies when he tweeted: “I’m buying Manchester United, welcome.”
About four hours later, he added: “This is a long joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams.”
Some of the billionaire’s 103 million Twitter followers had urged him to buy the football club, which is languishing at the bottom of the English Premier League after suffering its worst start to a season for a century.
Much of the frustration with the club’s performance in recent years, particularly since the departure of beloved manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has been directed at the Glazer family, who have controlled the club since a £790m purchase in 2005.
Musk’s original post came after midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where Manchester United’s market capitalization was $2.08 billion at the close, down 24 percent over the past 12 months.
The team has not won a title since 2013. In January, the club’s revenue surpassed that of local rivals Manchester City for the first time, according to consultants KPMG.
Previously, Musk was censured by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a tweet that made the incorrect claim that he had the “secured funds” to take Tesla private.
Recently, Musk’s tweets suggesting he would make an offer to buy Twitter himself were met with a serious move, but he is now looking to back out of the $44 billion deal.
