Elon Musk wants to buy Coca-Cola to 'put the cocaine' back in the iconic fizzy drink

dailystar.co.uk:

Elon Musk’s massive £35billion purchase of social networking site Twitter appears to be going through, it may not be the only mega-corporation the Space X founder has added to his online shopping basket.Musk has said – perhaps not entirely seriously – that he’s thinking of buying Coca-Cola, and restoring the world-famous soft drink’s original recipe.In 1885, when Coca-Cola was originally devised, cocaine was a fairly common ingredient in over-the-counter medicines.American pharmacist John Pemberton brought together cocaine – in the form of an extract from coca leaves – and caffeine (made from kola nuts) to create his world-beating beverage.Coca-Cola was originally marketed as a “brain tonic and intellectual beverage,” that cured headaches, upset stomach, and fatigue.

At first Pemberton sold it by the glass direct from his pharmacy for five cents a glass.But over time, the amount of cocaine in the Coca-Cola recipe was steadily reduced from the secret recipe – and finally removed altogether in 1929.But if we’re to believe Elon Musk it’s coming back.

He tweeted on Wednesday: “Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in”.It would be a big ask, even for the richest man in the world.

The Coca-Cola corporation is conservatively valued at a whopping $284bn (£226bn). Elon Musk’s current net worth is believed to be in the region of $253bn (£201bn).A Coca-Cola buy-out would probably be the biggest single business deal in history.Still, it would be a mistake to rule the Tesla entrepreneur out of the running altogether.