The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, tweeted on Wednesday that he had joked when he said he was going to buy Manchester United.
“No, this is a continuing Twitter joke. I don’t purchase any sports franchises, “When a user questioned Musk about his intentions to purchase the club, Musk said.
The change in tweets comes as Musk tries to get out of a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, just four months after stating on the platform that he would do so. Twitter has sued Musk over the matter.
Because of his unusual nature and penchant for producing snarky tweets, it can be challenging to determine whether Musk is joking.
He tweeted on April 27, two days after Twitter’s board accepted his unsolicited offer to purchase the firm, “Next I’m purchasing Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in.”
He tweeted in 2018 that a $72 billion proposal to take Tesla private had “financing secured,” but he never made an offer. To address Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges that Musk had deceived investors, Musk and Tesla each paid $20 million in civil fines, and Musk resigned as Tesla’s chairman.
A request for comment regarding Musk’s tweet indicating he was purchasing the club outside of regular business hours did not receive a prompt response from the SEC.
Musk has previously been into trouble with American regulators because of his tweets about prospective purchases.
