Summary
Hasbrostock has seemingly received a boost from Elon Musk’s recent suggestion that he would consider buying the company. It’s presently unclear whether Musk is seriously considering aHasbroacquisition.
The billionaire entrepreneur has recently taken issue with some of the content ofMaking of Dungeons and Dragons, a book Hasbro released as part of its celebrations of the40th anniversary of theDnDfranchise. One section of the book labels the original iteration ofDnDas containing “insensitive and derogatory” language that can be hurtful to women, minorities, and some other groups. This passage seemingly upset Musk, who suggested as much in a November 22 tweet, stating that “nobody gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who createdDungeons and Dragons.” Referring to Hasbro and its subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast, which publishesDnDmedia, he added: “may they burn in hell.”
Six days later,Musk suggested that he may buy Hasbroby publicly inquiring about its price on Twitter. This remark may have boosted the company’s stock, whichroseby two points during the shortened trading session on November 29, following Thanksgiving. Although stock fluctuations tend to be driven by multiple factors, the fact that the richest person in the world expressed interest in Hasbro plausibly had a material impact on the recent price of the company’s equities. More specifically, Musk’s tweet possibly added over $160 million to Hasbro’s market cap. It remains to be seen whether this price holds up once trading resumes on December 2.
Hasbro Acquisition Would Give Musk Control of Much More Than Just DnD
Acquiring Hasbro would give Musk control over much more than justDungeons and Dragons. The Rhode Island-based company also ownsMagic: The Gathering,Transformers,Monopoly,Peppa Pig,Power Rangers,My Little Pony, andCluedo, among numerous other popular franchises. While the billionaire entrepreneur hasn’t detailed any concrete acquisition plans, his public musings about buying Hasbro shouldn’t be dismissed.Musk’s Twitter acquisitionbegan in a similarly low-key manner and seemed uncertain until it ultimately happened.
The current situation ties back toMusk’s recent announcement that he wants to start an AI game studio. Taking to Twitter on November 27, the 53-year-old asserted that “massive corporations” own “too many game studios” nowadays. Due to this state of affairs, he proclaimed that his xAI company is going to start an AI game studio to “make games great again.” Musk did not elaborate on what any of that actually means.
