Billionaire Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink founder and CEO Elon Musk is moving forward with his bid to take control of social media giant Twitter, announcing — via the platform — some major changes he will make.
“If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!” he wrote. “And authenticate all real humans.”
And authenticate all real humans
— Elon Musk
Those tweets follow a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that he had secured $46.5 billion to purchase Twitter from three sources that include $21 billion of his own funds, $13 billion from Morgan Stanley, and $12.5 billion from other banks.
It was originally reported by that Musk was actively searching for investors to raise around $10 billion in his takeover efforts.
It also said that he was prepared to invest $15 billion of his own money and wants to make his move within 10 days.
The Tesla tycoon — who is worth $270 billion, according to Forbes — is angling to finance his $43 billion bid to acquire Twitter in a complex deal that raises debt against both the company and possibly his own stock, as well as a giant cash equity infusion from co-investors, The Post has learned.
Still, insiders say Musk appears to be facing hurdles in raising the money. In addition to doubts about whether Twitter is worth the $54.20 a share that Musk offered on Thursday, sources said some investors appear skittish over his pattern of unpredictable behavior and taste for controversy.
Musk himself is willing to invest between $10 billion and $15 billion of his own cash to take Twitter private, two sources close to the situation said. That’s up from the current 9.1% stake in the company he revealed on April 4, which is worth about $3.4 billion.
He may even be willing to borrow against his current stake which could bring in several billion dollars.
“The co-investors will combined have more equity than Musk but he will be the biggest single holder,” a source said.
He also hired Morgan Stanley to help him raise some $10 billion in debt to execute a traditional leveraged buyout.
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