Elon Musk is poised to become Twitter’s interim CEO after completing his $44 billion buyouts of the social-media company, CNBC reported on Thursday, as the billionaire nears completion of the transaction.
Musk, the world’s richest person, is also the CEO of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and the founder of The Boring Company and SpaceX.
Tesla shares fell 2.7 percent, showing investor anxiety about his expanded role in Twitter. Twitter shares continued to rise, rising roughly 4% to $50.89, but falling short of Musk’s offer of $54.20.
Last week, Reuters claimed that Musk had lined up a candidate for the top job at Twitter. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who was appointed in November, is anticipated to remain in his position until the firm is sold to Musk. more info
Earlier on Thursday, Musk announced a group of high-profile investors, including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Sequoia Capital, who are ready to give $7.14 billion in funding for his Twitter bid.
Musk extended his financial pledge to $27.25 billion, while Morgan Stanley reduced a margin loan to $6.25 billion. He has already obtained bank commitments for $13 billion in loans against Twitter.
Binance, New York-based real estate mogul Steven Witkoff’s business, and DFJ Growth IV Partners, which includes stakes in the Boring Company, SpaceX, SolarCity, and Tesla, are among the other investors.
“We hope to be able to play a role in bringing social media and web3 together and broadening the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology,” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated.
According to Reuters, Musk is in negotiations with huge investment groups and high-net-worth people about increasing funding for his Twitter acquisition and tying up less of his fortune in the transaction.
According to the filing, Musk will continue to negotiate with existing Twitter shareholders, including the company’s former CEO Jack Dorsey, to contribute shares to the proposed acquisition.
Larry Ellison, a Tesla board member and Musk’s self-described close friend, has contributed $1 billion to the funding.
Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist who has advocated for user-friendly Twitter changes such as an edit button and combating “spam bots” that send massive volumes of undesired tweets, has previously stated that he would attempt to keep as many investors in Twitter as possible.
Investors have been concerned about Musk’s ability to execute the Twitter acquisition.
In April, he opted at the last minute not to join Twitter’s board of directors. Musk tweeted in 2018 that “funding secured” for a $72 billion plan to take Tesla private, but did not proceed with an offer.
If Musk walked away, he would have to pay a $1 billion termination fee to Twitter, and the social media company could also sue him to finish the transaction.
