Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's buying of Twitter Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares has prompted a comment from his usual detractor — hedge fund manager and investor Michael Burry.
What Happened: Burry said on Twitter that Musk “buying enough shares to control Twitter would be good for America. Period.”The “Big Short” fame investor in his post shared a Boston Herald editorial that criticized major news outlets' coverage of Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden.
The Herald’s piece hit out at The New York Times, The Washington Post for admitting very late that "Hunter Biden is a train wreck."
Of course @elonmusk buying enough shares to control Twitter would be good for America. Period. https://t.co/Yh5Co6WvgD
— Cassandra (@michaeljburry) April 5, 2022
It also said the Associated Press, which runs a feature called “Not Real News: A Look at What Didn’t Happen," needed to "stop trying to be the voice of America and just chase down the news."
See Also: How To Buy Tesla (TSLA) Stock
Why It Matters: In 2020, both Twitter and Meta Platforms Inc’s (NASDAQ: FB) Facebook faced flak over limiting a New York Post story on Biden, whose son Hunter introduced him to a Ukrainian businessman while he was still vice president. The article was based on email and data extracted from a laptop left at a Delaware repair shop.
At the time, the then Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, admitted that company's communication and action on the Post’s article were "not great.”
Last month, Musk tweeted about the “de facto” bias in Twitter’s algorithm and said he was worried about the effect it has on public discourse.
Burry, who uses “Cassandra” as a pen name on Twitter, has clashed with Musk in the past and bet against Tesla but has said he is no longer shorting the company. The famed short seller rarely provides context around his tweets and it isn't immediately clear if his comment was made in jest.
Price Action: Twitter shares soared 27% to $49.93 in the regular session on Monday and appreciated 1.2% to $50.52 in the after-hours trading. On the same day, Tesla shares closed 5.6% higher at $1,145.45 in the regular session, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
