The 8 Top Tweets In The Past Week

Topline

Prospective Twitter owner Elon Musk followed up on his $44 billion commitment to buy the company by posting one of the most successful weeks by any user in the platform’s history—at least in terms of interactions—authoring the top eight tweets over the past seven days (see the bottom of the post for the full list).

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during the unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y in Hawthorne, California, … [+] on March 14, 2019. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Musk’s top tweet this week was a play off news of the massive deal to buy Twitter, with Musk joking: “Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in.”

Wednesday’s tweet from Musk has been retweeted or quote tweeted more than 850,000 times, and gathered nearly 4.6 million likes as of Friday, making it the second most-liked tweet of all-time, behind only the announcement of actor Chadwick Boseman’s death posted from Boseman’s account.

His next most-popular tweet, saying he hopes his “worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” has more than 3.3 million likes since it was published Monday, placing it seventh among the most-liked tweets ever.

Seven of Musk’s top eight tweets came after news broke Monday that Twitter’s board accepted Musk’s offer to buy 100% of the company, according to data compiled by social media tracking firm NewsWhip.

The most popular tweet Musk didn’t author was from Insider journalist Dave Smith, which came in at No. 9 in the past week—but it was still about Musk, with Smith posting a screenshot of an interaction they had in 2017, where he suggested the billionaire “should buy” Twitter, to which Musk responded: “How much is it?”

Big Number

More than 88.8 million. That’s how many followers Musk boasts on Twitter.

Key Background

Twitter’s board on Monday accepted Musk’s “best and final offer” to buy all the company’s shares at $54.20 and take it private. Musk made the unsolicited offer earlier this month after it was disclosed he bought a 9.2% stake in the company, which made him Twitter’s largest shareholder. Musk has regularly criticized Twitter in the past for what he calls unnecessary censorship, and has stated as owner he will allow all speech on the platform that is permissible by law. It’s also been predicted numerous banned accounts, like former President Donald Trump’s, will be restored once Musk has control of Twitter.

What To Watch For

Musk slammed Trump’s new social media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday, saying it has a “terrible name” and only exists because “Twitter censored free speech.” On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social for the first time in months, sharing a photo of himself at Mar-a-Lago and saying: “I’M BACK! #COVFEFE.” Trump told Fox News he does not plan to return to Twitter even if Musk reinstates his account.

Tangent

Musk has sold off more than $8 billion in Tesla stock over the past week to help fund his Twitter takeover. Tesla’s share price has tanked on the news its CEO will soon run Twitter, dropping around 13% since Monday to close at $870.76 on Friday.