Twitter and Mr. Musk have been, thus far, working collectively to shut the deal, an individual with data of the matter mentioned, although these dynamics can shortly change.
How Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal Unfolded
A blockbuster deal. Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, capped what appeared an unbelievable try by the famously mercurial billionaire to purchase Twitter for roughly $44 billion. Right here’s how the deal unfolded:
Mr. Musk’s hand could be strengthened by the uncertainty his bid has created inside Twitter, which might probably make it tougher for the corporate to proceed independently. The corporate has struggled so as to add customers and generate extra income, and on Thursday, Mr. Agrawal fired two prime executives, halted new hiring and pledged to slash spending.
In his tweets on Friday, Mr. Agrawal mentioned he was making modifications as a result of the take care of Mr. Musk was not “an excuse to keep away from making essential selections for the well being of the corporate.” He added that Twitter was a part of an trade that was “in a really difficult macro surroundings — proper now.”
Mr. Musk has pledged to make use of his private fortune to finance the deal for Twitter, a plan that has been affected by a latest plunge in inventory costs, together with Tesla’s. Tesla’s inventory has fallen practically 30 p.c prior to now month. Mr. Musk is each promoting Tesla shares and placing them up as collateral for private loans to boost money.
If a deal have been to be accomplished, enterprise challenges at Twitter might power Mr. Musk to attract additional on his Tesla inventory to plug potential monetary holes. And any drawback at Tesla that induced its inventory to fall far sufficient might set off clauses in Mr. Musk’s private loans that may require him so as to add extra collateral, limiting his capability to put money into Twitter.
Tesla’s inventory rose on Friday after Mr. Musk’s feedback.
The fluctuations in shares of Twitter and Tesla that adopted Mr. Musk’s tweets might draw scrutiny. The Securities and Trade Fee charged Mr. Musk with securities fraud in 2018 after he falsely tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla personal, sending the automaker’s shares up 6 p.c. Mr. Musk and Tesla paid a $40 million penalty for the tweet. A shareholder lawsuit towards Mr. Musk over the tweet is ongoing.
“If I have been his lawyer, I might be spending the morning scrambling to determine what the implication of this all is below the federal safety regulation,” mentioned Marc Leaf, accomplice with Faegre Drinker and a former lawyer with the Securities and Trade Fee.
