Tom Krisher and Matt O’Brien, Associated Press – October 26, 2022 / 1:24 p.m. | History: 392791
Photo: The Canadian Press
FILE – Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Expo on March 9, 2020 in Washington. Musk posted a video on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, showing him strolling through Twitter’s headquarters ahead of the Friday, October 28 deadline to complete his $44 billion deal to buy the company. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Elon Musk posted a video on Wednesday showing him strolling through Twitter headquarters ahead of Friday’s deadline to complete his $44 billion deal to buy the company.
Musk also changed his Twitter profile to refer to himself as “Chief Twit” and his location to Twitter headquarters, which is based in San Francisco. The video showed him carrying a sink through a hall.
“Enter the Twitter headquarters – let him in!” he tweeted.
Entering Twitter’s headquarters – let him in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
A court has given Musk until Friday to complete his April deal to acquire the company after he earlier tried to pull out of the deal. Neither Musk nor Twitter said if the deal was done yet.
Despite Musk’s thunderous entry into HQ, it was still unclear if his purchase of Twitter had been finalized. Twitter confirmed Musk’s video tweet was real but would not comment further. Alex Spiro, Musk’s lead attorney, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Washington Post reported last week that Musk told potential investors that he plans to cut three-quarters of Twitter’s 7,500 employees when he takes ownership of the company. The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources close to the deliberation.
One of Musk’s biggest hurdles to closing the deal was keeping in place the funding promised about six months ago.
A group of banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, signed on earlier this year to lend $12.5 billion of the money Musk needed to buy Twitter and take it private. Strong contracts with Musk have tied banks to funding, although changes in the economy and debt markets since April have likely made terms less attractive. Musk even said his investment group would buy Twitter for more than it’s worth.
What happens with the billions of dollars promised to Musk by investors who would get stakes in Twitter is less clear. Musk’s original list of equity partners included a range of partners from the billionaire’s tech friends with similar ideas on Twitter’s future, like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, to royalty-controlled funds. from the Middle-East.
The more equity investors participate in the deal, the less Musk has to pay himself. Most of his wealth is tied to shares in Tesla, the electric car company he runs. Since April, he has sold more than $15 billion worth of Tesla stock, presumably to pay for his share. Other sales could happen.
Musk’s flirtation with buying Twitter appears to have begun in late March. That’s when Twitter said it contacted its board members – including co-founder Jack Dorsey – and told them he was buying stock and was interested in joining the board. administration, to privatize Twitter or to launch a competitor.
Then, on April 4, he disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had become the company’s largest shareholder after acquiring a 9% stake worth around $3 billion.
At first, Twitter offered Musk a seat on its board. But six days later, CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted that Musk would ultimately not join the board. His offer to buy the company soon followed.
When Musk agreed to buy Twitter, he inserted a “420” marijuana reference into its price of $54.20 per share. He sold about $15 billion worth of Tesla stock to help fund the purchase, then gathered pledges for billions more from a diverse group of investors, including heavyweights in Silicon Valley as Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Inside Twitter, Musk’s offer was met with confusion and low morale, especially after Musk publicly criticized one of Twitter’s top lawyers involved in content moderation decisions.
In July, Musk abruptly backtracked announcing he was backing down from his offer to buy Twitter. His reason given: Twitter hadn’t been candid about its problem with fake accounts it dubbed “spam bots.” Twitter sued Musk in Delaware Chancery Court to force the deal. Two weeks before the start of a 5-day trial, Musk changed his mind again, saying he finally wanted to close the deal.
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