According to sources, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, will take over as the interim CEO of Twitter after his $44 billion deal to buy the social media network is completed.
According to a securities filing Thursday, Musk has raised $7.1 billion for his Twitter acquisition from investors including Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Ellison ($1 billion), Sequoia Capital ($800 million), and Vy Capital ($700 million) are among the 18 investors who have agreed to cash commitments, according to Tesla’s CEO.
According to the filing, the Saudi prince, who is also the CEO of the Kingdom Holding Company conglomerate, agreed to donate around 35 million Twitter shares worth $1.9 billion in order to keep a stake in the company after the acquisition.
Alwaleed had previously dismissed Musk’s $54.20 per share offer as too cheap, but on Thursday he applauded Musk on Twitter, writing, “I look forward to rolling out $1.9 billion in the ‘new’ @Twitter and joining you on this wonderful journey.”
According to the filing, the investments will lower a $12.5 billion margin loan structured by Morgan Stanley and other banks to $6.25 billion.
Because of the new financing, fewer Tesla shares will be used as security for the margin loan.
According to the document, Musk “may receive additional finance commitments to fund additional sections of the entire Merger Consideration,” and he’s in negotiations with former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and others about contributing shares to keep an equity interest.
The Twitter acquisition is likely to be completed in 2022.
Musk is anticipated to act as temporary CEO of Twitter for a few months after the deal is completed, according to CNBC, which cited unnamed sources.
