Leave it to Elon Musk to anger yet another group of people on Twitter via his bold claims.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
The Tesla CEO took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to brazenly claim that he would be purchasing Premier League soccer team Manchester United.
“Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome,” the billionaire told his 103 million followers.
Musk’s stark announcement was quickly met with many asking him if he was “serious” before he eventually quipped back about two hours later confirming that no, he was not in fact actually purchasing the soccer team.
“No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams,” Musk said bluntly. “Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid.”
Many Manchester United fans have had it rough the past few years, as the team hasn’t won a title since 2013 and has gone through a whopping eight coaches in a 10-year period.
Some were urging Musk to change his mind, seeing him as the potential savior to invest in the team that is currently owned by the Glazer family, who also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Please buy Manchester United,” one user wrote to Musk. “Save us. The only hope is @elonmusk.”
“Couldn’t even let us have hope for even a day,” another fan lamented.
It’s estimated that Manchester United is worth $4.6 billion with an operating income of $128 million, according to Forbes.
Of course, this purchase would be significantly less than Musk’s initial (and legally ongoing) bid to purchase Twitter for an estimated $44 billion, a bind that he’s currently being sued for trying to back out of.
Musk also Tweeted early Wednesday that “standup” is his “side hustle,” presumably pointing to the other purchases he’s joked about making on Twitter, like Coca-Cola in which he claimed he would put illicit drugs back into the beverage upon his acquisition.
As of Wednesday morning, Musk’s net worth was an estimated $266.5 billion.
