Elon Musk said he was going to buy Manchester United, but the billionaire quickly said he was joking.
Manchester United fans may have been hoping for a new billionaire owner, but it doesn’t look like Elon Musk will buy the team.
American businessman Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and is the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, made waves on Tuesday when he said he was going to buy United.
Fans of the club have long wanted its current owners, the Glazer family, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to sell up. Many fans and experts blame the team’s failures since Alex Ferguson’s retirement on poor investment, which they say is why the Glazers still own the club.
Just three days after United lost 4-0 at Brentford, Musk wrote on Twitter, “I’m buying Manchester United. You’re welcome.”
After Musk’s first tweet, the price of United’s shares went up by about 17% and then went back down a bit after the US pre-market trade.
But when asked if he was serious about buying United, Musk said: “No, this has been a Twitter joke for a long time. I’m not going to buy any teams.”
But Musk didn’t shut the door all the way.
“But if it could be any team, it would be Manchester United,” the 51-year-old continued. “As a kid, they were my favourite team.”
Even though it was clear that the comment was made in jest, anyone who thought it might have been true was quickly disappointed when Musk responded to one of his 103.4 million followers soon after.
