After Elon Musk joked on Twitter that he was buying Manchester United (MU), the English football club’s stock surged during premarket trading on August 17.
Specifically, MU shares, traded under the ticker MANU on the New York Stock Exchange, rose 3.68% before the official market opened. Following Musk’s tweet, the stock jumped as much as 17%.
“Am I buying Manchester United?” Musk tweeted.
However, shortly after, when a user asked if he was serious about buying MU, Elon Musk replied, “No, this is an old Twitter joke. I’m not buying any sports clubs.” Still, the world’s richest billionaire confirmed he has been a fan of MU since childhood.
According to CNBC, based on the latest market valuation, buying the English club would cost Musk around $2 billion. MU declined to comment on the matter.
Before Musk clarified, the Tesla CEO’s tweet had received 573,000 likes and was retweeted over 140,000 times. MU fans were surprised but hopeful, especially as many criticize how the Glazer family, the club’s current owners, manage the team.
Last year, the UK’s The Daily Mirror reported that the Glazers were prepared to sell MU but only if the price exceeded £4 billion (about $4.84 billion). A few months ago, MU supporters launched a social media campaign urging Musk to drop his Twitter deal and buy the Old Trafford club instead.
“Listen, I can’t work magic. I’m off to buy McDonald’s and fix some ice cream machines,” the Tesla CEO responded to the suggestion.
Back in April, Musk tweeted that he would buy Coca-Cola to “put the cocaine back in.” On the morning of August 17, he corrected that old tweet, writing, “I’m also not buying Coca-Cola to put cocaine back in.”
While Musk has no plans to buy MU, another billionaire is interested. According to The Guardian, billionaire Jim Ratcliffe confirmed his interest in purchasing the club.
On Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires list, Ratcliffe owns $13 billion and ranks as the third richest person in the UK. He is the founder, chairman, and majority shareholder of the chemical company Ineos Group. Previously, he also expressed interest in buying Chelsea from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
