Stock Market Soars After Elon Musk Buys 9.2% Stake in Twitter

The stock market soared Monday after entrepreneur and tech innovator Elon Musk scooped a 9.2% stake in Twitter for about $32 million.

Twitter’s stock soared in premarket trading Monday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk disclosed a more than 9 percent stake in the social media giant, making him one of its largest shareholders.

As of 7:25 a.m. ET, Twitter shares were up more than 24% at at $48.81.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Musk detailed holding nearly 73.5 million shares of Twitter, disclosing that this amounted to a stake of approximately 9.2 percent. CNBC noted that this makes him the largest outside shareholder of the company. Musk’s stake was worth around $2.89 billion, based on the firm’s Friday closing price.

Musk often uses Twitter, where he has more than 80 million followers, to comment on various issues, including stocks and even Twitter itself. As of late, he has posted surveys asking respondents about Twitter’s commitment to free speech and even suggested he was considering starting a rival social media firm of his own.

“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk wrote in one recent post before asking: “What should be done?” When someone suggested launching a rival, the businessman said he was “giving serious thought” to the idea.