Shares of Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) stock opened more than 6% higher today after Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk tweeted out last night that he would acquire the team.
Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022
However, Musk later tweeted that he was kidding, characterizing the tweet as “a long-running joke” on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). In response, former MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) CEO Michael Saylor replied that Musk should purchase more Bitcoin (BTC-USD) instead.
The initial tweet in this news seemed somewhat credible, as Musk is the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $267 billion. Meanwhile, MANU stock has a market capitalization of about $2.2 billion. That’s a walk in the park for Musk. After all, the Tesla CEO sold 7.92 million shares of TSLA stock earlier this month, worth nearly $7 billion.
Musk’s Tweet Puts MANU Stock in Focus
Manchester’s season is off to a cold start. The team is currently ranked last in the Premier League, losing two matches out of two matches played. Adding more credibility to Musk’s tweet is that the owners of the team, the Glazer family, are open to selling a minority stake. The owners have already held preliminary talks on the possibility of bringing in a new investor.
Despite the slow start this year, Manchester is one of the most well-known soccer clubs in the world. Since its inception, the club has won 13 Premier League titles and boasted big-name players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition, the possible sale of a minority stake should attract a fair amount of investors. Recently, private equity firm Clearlake Capital bought Chelsea FC in a transaction worth $5.3 billion.
According to Bloomberg, Malcolm Glazer purchased MANU in 2005 through a leveraged buyout, taking on major debt. After Sir Alex Ferguson left as coach in 2013, the Glazer family has experienced increased scrutiny from Manchester United fans.
On the other hand, MANU stock has been experiencing unusual options activity lately. Unusual Whales tweeted last night that MANU usually experiences little to no options activity. However, on Aug. 14, someone purchased $450,000 worth of $14 calls that expire in one month. The investor is likely making a big bet that someone will take a minority stake in the soccer club.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
