After Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he is buying Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United

Elon Musk (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo. (Photo: Reuters)

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Tuesday (August 16) that he was buying football club Manchester United. Musk, the richest person in the world, has a history of making irreverent tweets, and it was not immediately clear whether he planned to pursue a deal.

“I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome,” Musk said in a tweet.

Also, I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022

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.

The team, featuring top striker Cristiano Ronaldo, is controlled by the American Glazer family, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The football club had a market capitalization 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 pounds ($955.51 million) in 2005, due to the team’s struggles on the pitch. The 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 is trying to exit a $44 billion agreement to buy the social media company, which has taken him to court.

The entrepreneur believes there are far more bots on Twitter than officials claim and accuses them of not providing enough information to settle his purchase.

Unhappy with the backtracking, bosses have decided to take Musk to court. Lawyers for both sides will go head-to-head in Delaware Chancery Court starting on October 17 and continuing for five days.

Twitter’s team had requested to begin the trial as early as September to prevent Musk from further disparaging the company. Musk wanted things to start in February 2023, claiming a ‘warp speed’ trial is an attempt to derail his argument the platform is cluttered with spambots.

(with Reuters inputs)