Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday evening that
he is purchasing the Manchester United football club, although it was not clear if the eccentric billionaire, currently embroiled in a lawsuit over his bid to buy Twitter, was being serious.
The 51-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who has a habit of posting provocative statements on social media for fun, said: "Also, I`m buying Manchester United ur welcome," in a reply to an earlier tweet about supporting both of America`s two major political parties.
Manchester United, a storied English football club, is currently led by the six children of late American businessman Malcolm Glazer, who took a controlling stake in the franchise in 2005.
Shares of the team listed on the New York Stock Exchange are down year to date, but ended Tuesday flat, with a market capitalization of $2.1 billion.
The Glazer family also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an NFL franchise in Florida.
There was no immediate reaction from the club or its owners to Musk`s tweet.
Manchester United fans have protested the team`s management for poor performance in recent years, as well as their involvement in a plan to start a new "Super League" of Europe`s richest teams.
The Red Devils finished last season at sixth place in the English Premier League, but have gotten off to a rocky start this year.
After two straight losses, including a humiliating 0-4 defeat last weekend at Brentford, Manchester United currently sit at dead last -- the first time they have been at the bottom of the chart in 30 years.
More protests against the Glazer family`s ownership of the club are planned ahead of United`s next game at home to Liverpool on August 22.
As for Elon Musk, the richest man in the world recently sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, and is in a major legal battle in the US state of Delaware over his aborted plan to buy Twitter.
