As $44B deal deadline looms Musk lugs sink into Twitter HQ

by Sara Floyd Hello

To acquire Twitter later this week into the company’s headquarters on Wednesday Elon Musk, the billionaire, strolled carrying a porcelain sink and tweeting “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”

To take Twitter private, Musk’s $44 billion deal reached a Friday deadline, although the video he posted offered no evidence that the acquisition is complete.

On that question Twitter and Musk representatives had no comment, although Twitter did confirm that Musk’s video tweet was real. To refer to himself as “Chief Twit” and his location to Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters Musk also changed his Twitter profile.

To the world’s richest man and his on-again, off-again pursuit of the social platform the splashy video, a vintage Musk production, also pulled the spotlight back.

By the Delaware Chancery Court in early October the Friday deadline to consummate the deal was ordered.

During which Musk signed a deal to acquire Twitter it is the latest step in an epic battle, then tried to back out of it, leading Twitter to sue the Tesla CEO to force him to conclude the deal.

The next step could be a November trial, if the two sides don’t meet the Friday deadline.

He fully expects the deal to close by Friday’s deadline but didn’t see much substance to Musk’s video, a law professor at Pepperdine University, Robert Anderson, said. “About it I don’t see anything unusual, other than that he brought a sink”, he said.

According to an internal memo cited in a report by Bloomberg News, Musk had been expected to visit Twitter this week and is expected to return again Friday if the deal is finalized.

About visiting Twitter headquarters that the building should be turned into a “homeless shelter” because, he said, so few employees actually worked there to one of his earlier suggestions his apparent enthusiasm stood in sharp contrast.

Musk told prospective investors that when he becomes owner of the company he plans to cut three quarters of Twitter’s 7,500 workers, the Washington Post reported last week.

With deliberation the newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar. After posting his sink video for several hours, Musk tweeted that he was meeting “a lot of cool people at Twitter today!” He gave no details.

To close the deal one of Musk’s biggest obstacles was keeping in place the financing pledged roughly six months ago.

Including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America earlier this year a group of banks signed on to loan $12.5 billion of the money Musk needed to buy Twitter and take it private.

Although changes in the economy and debt markets since April have likely made the terms less attractive, solid contracts with Musk bound the banks to the financing. Musk even said his investment group would be buying Twitter for more than it’s worth.

By investors who would get ownership stakes in Twitter less clear is what’s happening with the billions of dollars pledged to Musk. About Twitter’s future, such as Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, to funds controlled by Middle Eastern royalty, Musk’s original slate of equity partners included an array of partners ranging from the billionaire’s tech world friends with like-minded ideas.

For the deal the more equity investors kick in, the less Musk has to pay on his own. The electric car company that he runs, most of his wealth is tied up in shares of Tesla. Since April, he has sold more than $15 billion worth of Tesla stock, presumably to pay his share. More sales could be coming.

About his plans for the social media platform Musk, 51, has shared few concrete details. Since agreeing to buy the company in April while he’s touted free speech and derided spam bots, what he actually wants to do about either remains a mystery.

To help create an “everything app” similar to China’s WeChat service, which allows users to do video chats, message, stream video, scan barcodes and make payments technology analysts have speculated that Musk wants to use Twitter.

In late March Musk’s flirtation with buying Twitter appeared to begin. Taking Twitter private or starting a competitor, that’s when Twitter said he contacted members of its board including co-founder Jack Dorsey and told them he was buying up shares and was interested in either joining the board.

After acquiring a 9% stake worth about $3 billion then, on April 4, he revealed in a regulatory filing that he had become the company’s largest shareholder.

Twitter offered Musk a seat on its board, at first. CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted that Musk would not be joining the board after all six days later. His bid to buy the company quickly followed.

Especially after Musk publicly criticized one of Twitter’s top lawyers involved in content-moderation decisions, Musk’s offer was met with confusion and falling morale inside Twitter.

In July, Musk abruptly reversed course, announcing that he was abandoning his bid to buy Twitter. His stated reason: Twitter hadn’t been straightforward about its problem with fake accounts he dubbed “spam bots.”

Two weeks before a 5-day trial was scheduled to begin, and Twitter sued, Musk changed his mind again, saying that he wanted to complete the deal after all.

Source:- Latest News