NEW YORK (AP) – Los Angeles Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has bought a 4-percent stake in Twitter, a vote of confidence in the struggling messaging company.
That makes Ballmer one of Twitter’s largest shareholders.
A Twitter account that identified itself as Ballmer’s said Friday morning that he bought stock in Twitter in the last few months. Seth Burton, a representative for the Clippers, confirmed that Ballmer had made the investment.
The high-profile investment comes as Twitter is trying to win more users and turn a profit. This month, its co-founder Jack Dorsey returned as its permanent CEO. Then the company announced that it would lay off up to 8 percent of its workforce and unveiled a new feature, “Moments.” Those packages of commentary, video and photos about major events are an attempt to make Twitter more accessible and broaden its appeal.
The company’s shares lost about half their value between late April and late August as investors worried about Twitter’s disappointing financial performance and slowing user growth. The nine-year-old company has never reported an annual profit.