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Elon Musk and Twitter: A timeline
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Elon Musk and Twitter: A timeline

  • May 15, 2022
  • May 15, 2022 Updated Aug 21, 2024
  • 0

January 31: Musk begins building up his Twitter stake

January 31: Musk begins building up his Twitter stake

Musk starts quietly buying up Twitter shares, building his stake in the company. But it would be months before he disclosed this fact to the public.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

March 14: Musk's Twitter stake tops 5%

March 14: Musk's Twitter stake tops 5%

Musk's stake in Twitter tops 5%, but that fact is not disclosed until the following month. Musk was obligated to disclose his stake within 10 days of crossing the 5% threshold, but waited 21 days to do so. During that time, he continued building up his stake.

Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

March 24: Asking whether Twitter should change

March 24: Asking whether Twitter should change

The billionaire begins to make pointed statements about the platform from his account. "Twitter algorithm should be open source," he wrote, with a poll for users to vote "yes" or "no."

The following day, Musk tweets out another poll to his followers: "Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?"

Christian Marquardt/Getty Images

April 29: Musk cashes out billions in Tesla stock

April 29: Musk cashes out billions in Tesla stock

Filings reveal Musk sold $8.5 billion of his Tesla stock in the three days after Twitter board agreed to the sale for an average of $883.09 per share. The filings did not disclose the reason for the sale, but Musk appeared to be raising funds to buy Twitter.

Scott Olson/Getty Images
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