Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and Space-X, and according to Forbes, the richest person in the world, began to acquiring shares of Twitter in January 2022. By March 14, 2022, Musk had acquired more than a 5% ownership stake in Twitter, requiring him to file a Schedule 13 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) within 10 days, or March 24, 2022. However, Musk did not file a Schedule 13 with the SEC within the required time and instead continued to amass Twitter shares, eventually acquiring over a 9% stake in the Company before finally filing a Schedule 13 on April 4, 2022.
Upon Musk belatedly filing the required Schedule 13, which first revealed his ownership stake in Twitter to the public, the Company’s shares rose from a closing price of $39.31 per share on April 1, 2022, to close at $49.97 per share on April 4, 2022 – an increase of 27%.
Investors who sold shares of Twitter between March 24, 2022 and April 4, 2022 missed the resulting share price increase as the market reacted to Musk’s purchases. By failing to timely disclose his ownership stake, Musk was able to acquire shares of Twitter less expensively during the Class Period.