Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, disputed the report on Wednesday after announcing that he was buying Manchester United, calling it a “long-running joke on Twitter.”
Musk responded to a question from a user on the microblogging service asking if he was serious about purchasing the club: “No, this is an ongoing Twitter joke. I don’t purchase any sports franchises.”
Earlier, Musk mentioned purchasing Manchester United in his replies to other people. It was not immediately obvious, though, if Musk was joking or was serious about the purchase.
The club is owned by the American Glazer family, who bought it in 2005 for about 790 million pounds.
He was in the middle of a political tweet thread when the announcement was made.
“To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party!” he posted, before the US midterm elections in November.
Supporters of Musk have previously requested that he purchase Manchester United rather than Twitter.
The headquarters of Manchester United Football Club, also known as Man United or simply United, are located in the Greater Manchester neighbourhood of Old Trafford, England.
It competes against Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, and other top football teams around the globe.
(Inputs from IANS)