Maybe Musk Should Have Bought Manchester United After All: The Team Needs Help And Would Be Just 1% Of His Net Worth

About a month ago, Elon Musk did what he does best and created another headline about himself. The Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO tweeted he was going to buy Manchester United, one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world. The tweet from Tuesday, Aug. 16 read, “Also, I’m buying Machester United ur welcome.” 

Manchester United PLC MANU, a rare sports team that is also publically traded, posted a loss of $89.1 million in its fiscal fourth quarter on Thursday. The stock actually closed higher, finishing up 1.11% on the day at $13.63 a share. 

Like many of Musk’s tweets, it ended up being a joke and not something to be taken seriously. But, with the team/company losing money last quarter, it may become an attractive investment for someone to come in and acquire it cheaply.

Should Musk have bought Manchester United when he tweeted about it back in August? After all, the team is worth about $2 billion, or around just 1% of Musk's net worth.

More importantly, the stock appreciated from the time he tweeted about it. Manchester United's stock is a little less than 2% from its Aug. 16 levels, but earlier in September, the stock reached highs of above $15, good for nearly a 20% return from when Musk tweeted about it in August.

The team’s performance is directly related to its earnings: the more the team wins, the more money it makes through various revenue streams.

Despite a horrific start to the year, Manchester United currently sits in fifth place on the Premier League table. The team has won four out of its last five games, led by the Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. So, if Man U's season keeps trending in the right direction, it will look like a missed opportunity from Musk to actually acquire the soccer club with arguably the most popular and recognized brand in the sport.

MANU Price Action: Manchester's stock has a 52-week high of $20.86 and a low of $10.41. At market close Friday, the stock was down 4.11% at $13.07.

Photo: Paul and Tesla Owners Club Belgium on flickr