by Key takeaways
- Hasbro’s stock price jumped after Elon Musk made hints about possibly purchasing the toy maker.
- Musk’s passion for video game properties like Dungeons & Dragons, which are owned by Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, may be the source of his interest.
- Musk’s thoughts could simply be casual remarks, but it’s impossible to rule out the world’s richest person making a serious attempt to acquire Hasbro.
Elon Musk’s tweet on X has sparked rumors that Hasbro, the well-known toy manufacturer, would be his next big acquisition target.
It all began a few days ago when Elon Musk expressed his displeasure with the direction that Hasbro’s ownership of Dungeons & Dragons had taken the game. He specifically objected to several remarks made regarding the history of the game by D&D’s current product lead in a 40th anniversary book.
The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla then candidly asked, “How much is Hasbro?” in a post on November 28. That was sufficient to sow the idea that he could want to acquire the entire $9+ billion entertainment behemoth that owns Transformers, D&D, Magic: The Gathering, and several other well-known properties.
The Stock Market Reacts
Although it is tough to tell whether Musk is only daydreaming or is considering a Hasbro takeover, the stock market appears to believe he may be sincere. In the day after his revealing article, Hasbro’s stock price surged by about 2%, reaching more than $66 per share before closing on November 29.
Being a huge Diablo 4 player, Musk is obviously no stranger to gaming. In late November, he even temporarily occupied one of the top ranks on the worldwide leaderboard for the Artificer’s Pit challenge level of the game.
Musk has also recently made no secret of his intention to “make games great again” by establishing an AI game company and his contempt for certain behaviors in the gaming business. Therefore, gaining control of well-known video game properties like D&D may be in line with those objectives and enable him to guide the brands in whatever way he sees suitable.
Nevertheless, Musk’s clumsy acquisition of Twitter/X hasn’t exactly been a textbook example of business acquisitions. The $44 billion transaction has caused the social media platform to lose value after a slew of rulings that didn’t sit well with advertisers. However, having a lot of extra cash on hand does occasionally permit some dangerous wagers.
