The owner of the ninth most popular social media platform has been encouraged to take over a football club in England but his feelings on the matter are already known.
Elon Musk is the world's richest person, the hand at the tiller of the Free World and an all-round charmer, but his desire for global adoration and notoriety doesn't extend as far as investing in an English football club.
Musk's dazzling sense of humour reached its peak in 2022 when his "I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome" tweet was revealed to be a stinging one-liner and Musk clarified that he was not, in fact, buying Manchester United.
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Football finance expert Dr Rob Wilson, a professor of Applied Sports Finance at Sheffield Hallam University, identified a surprising recommended purchase for the world's richest man.
“If Elon Musk wants to get into football club ownership, Cheltenham Town are an extraordinarily interesting prospect, particularly to the US market,” Dr Wilson told OLBG.
"Millions of people in the US love British culture, particularly quintessential Middle England and the Cotswolds where Cheltenham is based."
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan warned Manchester United off Musk, a sentiment that likely also applies to Cheltenham.
The Robins sit in 15th position in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football and a level above where Wrexham were taken over by Hollywood duo Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. Musk has the clout to match the upward progress of the North Wales club but any Musk-fronted equivalent of Welcome to Wrexham would attract a rather different – and smaller – audience. He might want to be Iron Man but the real Deadpool knows a thing or two about content marketing.
Cheltenham are currently owned by Cayman Islands-registered CTFC Investments Ltd, Scottish businessmen Simon Keswick (the younger brother of former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick) and the club's supporters' trust, and are chaired by employment solicitor David Bloxham. Keswick and CTFC Investments are understood to be willing to sell their shares, which total around 56% of the club.
The Robins would certainly benefit from some committed investment from outside and they could do worse than a big name from Tinseltown. Musk doesn't have the storytelling chops to pull off a compelling documentary series about his ownership of a League Two club but he does have the requisite access to cash. As it stands, a U-turn on his previous U-turn would be necessary first.
Topics: Manchester United, Wrexham, Rob McElhenney, Ryan Reynolds
Chris Nee