Elon Musk loves to have fun with his followers on social media. He continued that on Tuesday evening, suggesting he would purchase one of the top Premier League soccer clubs.
Embedded within the the series of tweets, the billoniaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX claimed that he’s buying the Premier League’s Manchester United.
Those who responded to Musk’s claims were trying to figure that out, too. Hours later, the billionaire revealed that it is a long-running joke and he won’t be buying any sports team.
Of course, it did create plenty of speculation regarding what Musk’s pursuit of Manchester United would look like.
Elon Musk: Future owner of Manchester United?
Let’s look at it from a logical perspective given that some of Musk’s recent comments fail to error on the side of caution.
According to Forbes, Manchester United is worth a cool $4.6 billion (£3.7 billion). A recent report from the Mirror across the pond indicates that the Glazzer family is looking for at least £4.0 billion to sell the 20-time Premier League champions.
For his part, the 51-year-old Musk has a net worth of $265.7 billion and is considered the richest man in the world. Dropping the equivalent of $5 billion on Manchester United would be a drop in the bucket. Musk had previously made a commitment to buy Twitter for a cool $44 billion prior to some issues popping up between the two sides.
It’s not yet known how a Musk purchase of Manchester United would be met in Europe. The club has fallen on hard times under the Glazer family, who have been accussed of terrible ownership in the past.
“The Glazers have been accused of bleeding the club dry, failing to invest in the squad or the club’s facilities such as its training ground and the iconic Old Trafford stadium. The club has not won the Premier League since (Sir Alex) Ferguson’s final season in 2012-13, and the Red Devils have not won a single trophy in four seasons. All the while, the Glazers have hardly ever set foot in Manchester, hiding from their fans even after a decade of disappointment.”
Fox Sports’ scribe Zac Rayson opined recently