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US: Elon Musk sets his sights on football club Manchester United

He is currently caught in a court case over his $44 billion deal to buy social media giant Twitter

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File photo
File photo

By Reuters

Published: Wed 17 Aug 2022, 6:49 AM

Last updated: Wed 17 Aug 2022, 6:54 AM

On Tuesday, Elon Musk, the world's richest person, tweeted that he was buying football club Manchester United Plc, without offering any details.

Musk has a history of being unconventional and making irreverent tweets, and it was not immediately clear whether he planned to pursue a deal to secure the club.

"I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome," Musk said in a tweet. The team is controlled by the American Glazer family. Neither the family nor Musk immediately responded to a request for comment.

Photo: @elonmusk/Twitter
Photo: @elonmusk/Twitter

According to British newspaper The Daily Mirror, the Glazers had been prepared to sell the club last year, but only if they were offered in excess of £4 billion ($4.84 billion).

Musk is currently trying to exit a $44 billion agreement to buy the social media giant Twitter, which has taken him to court.

Manchester United is one of the world's best-supported football clubs. They have been champions of England a record 20 times, and have won the European Cup — the most prestigious club competition in the global game — three times.

Dissatisfaction among fans at the Glazers' perceived lack of ambition to bring in top players intensified after the club finished sixth in the English Premier League last season, while crosstown rivals Manchester City won their second successive title.

The football club had a market capitalisation of $2.08 billion, as of Tuesday's stock market close.

Manchester United fans have, in recent years, protested against the Glazers, who bought the club for £790 million ($955.51 million) in 2005, due to the team's struggles on the pitch. This anti-Glazer movement gained momentum last year after United were involved in a failed attempt to form a breakaway European Super League.

Some fans have urged Musk to buy Manchester United instead of buying Twitter.

Musk's ambitions have always been wide-ranging — from colonising Mars to creating a new sustainable energy economy, and in the process, he has built the most valuable car company in the world (electric vehicle maker Tesla), rocket company SpaceX, and a slew of smaller firms, which involves a tunnel maker firm called the Boring Company. Forbes estimates his fortune at $270 billion.

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