Source: Musk will temporarily lead Twitter after acquiring it
Elon Musk is expected to become Twitter's ceo temporarily after the $44 billion acquisition of the social media company is terminated, a source said Thursday, as the billionaire nearly gets money for the deal.
Musk, the world's richest man, is also Tesla's CEO, and heads two other projects, The Buring Campani and SpaceX.
Tesla shares fell 8% Thursday, as investors worried that Musk's involvement in Twitter could distract him from running the world's most valuable electric car maker.
Twitter shares, on
the other hand, increased their gains by about 4% to $50.89, closer to the deal price of $54.20, as investors bet that the new financing made the deal more likely to be completed.
Baraj Agrawal, who was appointed Ceo of Twitter in November last year, is expected to remain in office until the company's sale of Musk is completed.
CNBC was the first to report Thursday that Musk plans to temporarily become Twitter's CEO.
Earlier in the day, Musk announced a list of prominent investors willing to provide $7.14 billion in funding for his Twitter takeover bid, including Oracle Corp.'s co-founder Larry Ellison and Sequoia Capital.
A regulatory disclosure showed that Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who initially opposed the purchase, also agreed to retain his $1.89 billion stake instead of selling it for money.
"It's great to have contact with my (new) friend Elon Musk, and KHC and I look forward to retaining our $1.9 billion share in Twitter," Alwaleed said in a tweet.
Musk raised his financing commitment to $27.25 billion, while reducing a morgan stanley guarantee loan to $6.25 billion and already receiving commitments on $13 billion in loans from banks.
Other investors include Penance Encrypted Assets, New York real estate entrepreneur Stephen Whitkov and D.F.J. Groth I.V., which also invests in The Buring Campani, SpaceX, Solar City and Tesla.
Reuters reported last week that Musk had held talks with large and wealthy investment firms about getting more funding for his acquisition of Twitter and reducing his funds in the deal.
The disclosure showed that Musk will continue to hold talks with current Twitter shareholders, such as former company president Jack Dorsey, to contribute shares in the acquisition.
Larry Ellison, a Tesla board member who describes himself as Musk's close friend, allocated $1 billion in funding.'
