In a video he shared today, Elon Musk can be seen entering the Twitter corporate offices before the Friday (local time) deadline for the completion of his US$44 billion (NZ$75 billion) acquisition agreement.
Musk also updated his Twitter profile to use the title “Chief Twit” and San Francisco as the location of Twitter’s headquarters. He could be seen in the footage carrying a sink through a lobby.
“Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” he tweeted.
After Musk attempted to back out of the acquisition agreement in April, a court has given him until tomorrow to complete the transaction. Twitter and Musk have not indicated whether the deal has been finalised.
Although Musk made a grand entrance at the company’s offices, it was unclear at the time if his purchase of Twitter had been completed. Twitter acknowledged that Musk’s video message was genuine but declined to make any additional comments. Musk’s principal attorney, Alex Spiro, didn’t respond to a request for comment right away.
The Washington Post reported last week that Musk told potential investors that when he owns Twitter, he expects to fire three-quarters of the company’s 7500 employees. The newspaper cited records and unidentified persons who were acquainted with the discussion.
Musk’s biggest challenge in finalising the acquisition was maintaining the finance committed around six months earlier.
A group of banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, signed on earlier this year to loan US$12.
Musk had to raise $5 billion (NZ$21 billion) in order to purchase and privatise Twitter. Although the banks were obligated to the financing due to strong contracts with Musk, the terms are probably no longer as favourable given the state of the economy and the debt markets as of April. Even more, Musk declared that his investment firm will pay more than necessary to acquire Twitter.
Less clear is what’s happening with the billions of dollars pledged to Musk by investors who would get ownership stakes in Twitter.
Musk’s original list of equity partners comprised a variety of investors, from funds run by Middle Eastern aristocracy to the billionaire’s tech industry colleagues with similar perspectives on Twitter’s future, such Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle.
The less Musk needs to pay out of pocket, the more equity investors will contribute to the acquisition. Most of his wealth is tied up in shares of Tesla, the electric car company that he runs.
He has reportedly sold more than US$15 billion (NZ$25 billion) of Tesla stock since April, most likely to cover his stake. There may be a surge in sales.
Musk appears to start considering purchasing Twitter in late March. At that point, according to Twitter, he allegedly got in touch with the company’s board members, including co-founder Jack Dorsey, and informed them that he was buying up shares and was considering either joining the board, taking Twitter private, or founding a rival company.
Then, on April 4, he disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had acquired a 9% stake worth roughly US$3 billion (NZ$5 billion), making him the company’s largest stakeholder.
Twitter initially offered Musk a position on its board. However, the CEO Parag Agrawal announced on Twitter six days later that Musk will not be joining the board after all. His offer to purchase the business came next.
Musk included a “420” marijuana reference to his offer price of $54.20 per share when he decided to purchase Twitter.
To help pay for the purchase, he sold shares in Tesla for about US$15 billion (NZ$25 billion). He then secured promises for billions more from a wide range of investors, including influential figures from Silicon Valley like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
When Musk made his offer to Twitter, it caused confusion and a decline in morale, especially after Musk had publicly criticised one of the company’s top attorneys who was in charge of making content-moderation decisions.
Musk abruptly changed course in July and declared he was giving up on his attempt to acquire Twitter. His justification was that Twitter hadn’t been clear about its issue with what he called “spam bots,” or false accounts. To compel the transaction, Twitter sued Musk in Delaware Chancery Court. Two weeks before a 5-day trial was scheduled to begin, Musk changed his mind again, saying that he wanted to complete the deal after all..
Elon Musk uploads a video of himself entering the Twitter headquarters.
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