Twitter stock at 1-year high despite Bankman-Fried connotations

The online world of tabloid gossip is certainly an intriguing one when it comes to speculation around certain high-profile business deals.

This week, there has been a story circulating around the mainstream media channels that Elon Musk, who is currently busily engaged in the acquisition of social media giant Twitter, had some friendly conversations with former FTX crypto exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, including allegedly encouraging Mr Bankman-Fried to roll over his Twitter shares post-acquisition.

Whether this is true or not is unknown, however Elon Musk, a cryptocurrency enthusiast himself, has publicly blasted Sam Bankman-Fried but it is being assumed that they had some convivial conversations in private surrounding Mr Bankman-Fried's substantial investment in Twitter shares.

It is understood that Sam Bankman-Fried owns approximately $100 million worth of Twitter stock, and whether the media speculation surrounding Elon Musk's alleged conversations with Mr Bankman-Fried is true or not, that is a lot of investment, and given the fate of FTX and the impending fate which Mr Bankman-Fried will now likely meet at the hands of bankruptcy administrators and potentially criminal prosecutors, it would perhaps be sensible to think that this much of a shareholding in the hands of a bankrupt man who now has to have his assets sold off by receivers would be enough to drop the price of Twitter stock.

This has not been the case, however, and Twitter stock is actually rising, today standing at a one-year high at 53.70, which it reached at the end of yesterday's US trading session.

It is possible that the interest in the company's new direction under Elon Musk is catching the attention of investors, as Elon Musk intends to restructure the way Twitter is run, including make significant staff redundancies and replace some of the leadership team.

There is also an interesting backstory in that Elon Musk has hinted that Twitter will accept cryptocurrency, leading to some line of thinking that it may become the world's 'free speech' platform in the social media world.

Certainly it appears that when Elon Musk disrupts, volatility ensues!