Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk holds a 9.2 per cent passive stake in social media major Twitter Inc as of March 14, 2022, regulatory filings showed. 

As per the Securities and Exchange Commission 13G filing, Musk owns 73,486,938 shares consisting shares of common stock in a personal capacity accounting for a 9.2 stake in the company based on 800,641,166 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of February 10, 2022 as reported in the Issuer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Twitter shares soared over 25 per cent in the pre-market.  

Musk, who is quite active on the platform, has criticised the platform in the past.

Post recently, Musk shared a poll on the microblogging platform asking users if Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech being essential to a functioning democracy.

“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. 

What should be done?” Musk had tweeted.

He had also said that he was giving “serious thought” to building a new social media platform in a Tweet.