Vanguard Group becomes Twitter’s largest shareholder, as Elon Musk losses spot amid ownership tussle

Vanguard Group, an asset manager, has become the largest stakeholder in Twitter, displacing Elon Musk, amid the ownership tussle involving the world’s richest man and Twitter board.

It was gathered on Thursday that Vanguard Group increased its stake of 8.4% (67.2 million shares) in Twitter to 10.3% (82.4 million shares), according to documents sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 8.

This is higher than the 9.1% (73.1 million shares) stake Musk bought on March 14, with Vanguard Group’s total investment value worth $3.71 billion, against Musk’s $3.29 billion, when their stake is pegged to Twitter’s market share value.

The investment has set the stage for ownership battle between institutional investor and individual investor, considering Musk had offered to acquire Twitter 100% from its shareholders.

Read also: Elon Musk moves to buy Twitter, threatens to exit investment if offer is rejected

Vanguard Group is one of eight institutional investors in the top ten largest shareholders in Twitter, while Musk and the microblogging site founder, Jack Dorsey, are the only two individual investors in the rank.

The move by Vanguard Group is seen as a dig at Musk’s aspiration to become the sole owner of Twitter, and would cost the billionaire the support of the now largest stakeholder in his bid to exit the firm from the public market, which the billionaire says will affect the potential of the social media platform.

Musk had offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, against the current price of Thursday, $45.08. He threatened to take out his $3.71 billion in the firm if his offer is rejected – his exit could tank the value of Twitter’s share, considering the influence he has in the U.S capital market.

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