Elon Musk Moving Forward With Twitter Takeover, Secures $46.5 Billion in Financing

Elon Musk is apparently moving forward with his bid to take over Twitter. For a week now, Musk has been generating headlines for making some very public moves to buy Twitter – i.e., become the biggest single shareholder in the company. Now it’s being reported that Musk has secured $46.5 billion in financing “for a possible tender offer for the company.” The news of Musk’s financing arrangement came to light as a result of SEC filings made on Thursday – the filings indicate that Musk has secured financial commitments from “Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. and certain other financial institutions party thereto as commitment parties.” 

The filing also indicates that Musk is “exploring whether to commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Common Stock… that are issued and outstanding (and not held by the Reporting Person) at a price of $54.20 per share…  but has not determined whether to do so at this time.”

The core reason for Elon Musk wanting to buy Twitter seems to be the billionaire’s criticisms of the social media platform not living up to its ideal as a free speech arena. By acquiring a controlling interest in Twitter, Musk could then privatize the company, and structure its rules and algorithms as he sees fit.  

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk stated in a previous filing with the SEC (via AP). “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”

Musk was set to join Twitter’s Board of Directors back in early April but declined the position after it was mandated that he be subjected to a background check. Other Twitter investors are also suing Musk for not disclosing his stake in the company by a legally mandated date, allegedly shorting them on the sell price for the stock. It’s all a can of worms still being sorted out. Twitter has also put a “poison pill” agreement in motion, to disrupt a possible takeover from Musk: 

“The Rights Plan is intended to enable all shareholders to realize the full value of their investment in Twitter. The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium or without providing the Board sufficient time to make informed judgments and take actions that are in the best interests of shareholders,” Twitter’s board has said in a statement.