Elon Musk has unexpectedly become the largest shareholder in social media giant Twitter, with a stake of around $3 billion. The Tesla and SpaceX founder now owns 73.5 million shares of Twitter, or 9.2% of the social network’s common stock. The purchase of these shares took place on March 14, as revealed by regulatory information published by Twitter.
However unusual it may be, Elon Musk’s participation in the capital of Twitter has its own logic: Elon Musk has in fact established himself as a regular and enthusiastic user of the platform, on which he has around 80 million followers. subscribers. He uses it for everything from jokes and memes to musings on the nature of the universe and news about rocket launches and Tesla performance. The entrepreneur also recently used the platform to discuss the role of Twitter itself, in a conversation that could take on additional resonance after the revelation of its giant shareholding.
At the end of March, the businessman had published a survey on Twitter about the social network, around the following question: “Freedom of expression is essential to the proper functioning of a democracy. Do you think Twitter strictly adheres to this principle? »
At the time, he specified that “the consequences of this survey would be significant. Please vote carefully”. A sentence that takes on its full resonance today, when only a little less than a third of respondents answered in the affirmative. “Given that Twitter serves as a de facto public square, failure to adhere to the principles of freedom of expression fundamentally harms democracy”, commented Elon Musk before bouncing on another question: “A new platform is necessary? What logically give rise to a number of rumors about his desire to invest in the social network market.
Record sales for Tesla
The news of Elon Musk does not stop there. The latter has indeed delivered the sales figures of Tesla. According to this tally, electric car maker Tesla produced a record 305,407 vehicles and delivered 310,048 to buyers during the first quarter of 2022. This is a marked acceleration in volume for the automaker. sales, with figures up from the 184,800 vehicles produced and 180,338 vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2021.
Most of Tesla’s production is focused on the more affordable Model 3 and the high-end Model Y SUV, which arrived in 2020. Tesla produced 291,189 of these models this quarter and delivered 295,324, according to a press release issued by Tesla. The automaker has also produced 14,218 Model S and Model X electric vehicles and delivered 14,724.
However, Elon Musk described the last few months as an “exceptionally difficult” quarter due to supply chain blockages linked in particular to the resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic in China, where is located. part of Tesla’s production capabilities.
Tesla’s Chinese factory, located in Shanghai, is used in particular for the production of the Model 3 and the Model Y. In 2020, Elon Musk indicated that this site could produce 150,000 Model 3s per year. As a reminder, the factory in Fremont, California, could theoretically produce 400,000 units per year. Recall that Tesla also inaugurated last week its “Gigafactory” in Berlin, which could produce 500,000 cars per year… more than the 450,000 electric vehicles sold annually worldwide by Volkswagen.