Elon Musk

REUTERS: Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, briefly lifted the gloom over Manchester United’s shares and fans yesterday by tweeting he was buying the English soccer club – only to say a little later it was all part of “a long-running joke”.

One of the world’s most successful soccer clubs, the “Red Devils” are languishing at the bottom of England’s Premier League and, having seen eight coaches come and go in less than 10 years, some fans and investors are wondering whether it’s time for the club’s owners, the American Glazer family, to sell.

Enter the billionaire CEO of Tesla. “To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party! Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur (sic) welcome - Elon Musk,” the 51-year-old tweeted to his 103 million followers.

Some of the club’s fans had previously urged Musk on Twitter to consider buying the club, complaining at what they see as under-investment by the Glazers. United won the last of their record 20 English league titles back in 2013.

Within six hours, Musk’s tweet had attracted more than 500,000 ‘likes’ on the club’s main Twitter account – though some users didn’t take it too seriously, comparing the post with Musk’s troubled run at buying Twitter. But then came the clarification. “No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams,” Musk posted, when asked if he was serious.

“Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U,” he added. “They were my fav (sic) team as a kid.” The Florida-based Glazers, Musk and his lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Manchester United declined to comment.

United fans were not impressed.

“It’s just a tweet from somebody who not always thinking twice before write something (sic),” The Manchester United Fanatics Club Hungary said. The Kolkata fans club added: “It again reinstated the fact that Elon and his tweets are just gimmicks. Although it would have been great if he really invested 1/10th of what he paid for Twitter to own this legendary club ... the entire fan base is sick and tired of the Glazers.” 

Even so, Musk’s musings ignited trading in the company’s US listed shares ahead of the New York market open. They briefly jumped as much as 17%, before settling around $ 13.20, about 3% above Tuesday’s closing price.

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