Elon Musk, the world’s richest person per Forbes, confirmed early Wednesday that he wasn’t serious when he tweeted hours earlier that he was going to buy Manchester United, which is currently languishing at the bottom of the Premier League as disgruntled fans urge current owners, the American Glazer family, to sell up.
“No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams,”
Musk posted when asked by a user if he was serious about buying the club when he had posted, “I’m buying Manchester United ur (sic) welcome.”
“Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U.”
“They were my fav (sic) team as a kid,”
he added.
Some United fans had previously urged the South African to consider purchasing the club on Twitter, citing what they see as underinvestment at one of the world’s most powerful football clubs. Despite the efforts of a cast of eight permanent and temporary coaches since 2013, United have not won the Premier League title since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, who claimed the last of their record 20 wins in 2013.
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Before Musk said he was only joking, some users mockingly compared his tweet to his troubled attempt to buy Twitter or seemed to regard it as nothing more than a joke.
The Manchester United Fanatics Club Hungary said after Musk said he was joking:
“It’s just a tweet from somebody who not always thinking twice before write something (sic).”
The Manchester United Fans Club Kolkata said:
“It again reinstated the fact that Elon and his tweets are just gimmicks. Although it would have been great if he really invested 1/10th of what he paid for Twitter to own this legendary club … the entire fan base is sick and tired of the Glazers.”
