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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is “on the warpath” after Twitter accepted his offer to purchase the social media company.
CNBC’s David Fabor reported that Musk is “expected to serve as a temporary CEO of Twitter for a few months after he completes his $44 billion take over of the social media company.”
“The report comes as Musk has secured $7.1 billion in new funding for the deal from a group of more than a dozen investors, including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Fidelity, and Brookfield Asset Management. In addition, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Alsaud has agreed to retain his 34,948,975 Twitter shares, worth approximately $1.9 billion,” Fox Business reported.
“As a result of the new commitments, Musk’s margin loan financing for the deal has been reduced from $12.5 billion to $6.25 billion, while his equity financing has increased from $21 billion to $27.25 billion. Musk’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission emphasizes that he is currently in discussions with existing shareholders of Twitter common stock, including co-founder Jack Dorsey, regarding ‘the possibility of contributing such shares of Common stock, at or immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, in order to retain an equity investment in Twitter following completion of the merger,'” the report added.
The Tesla CEO is reportedly planning to ax Twitter’s top chief counsel Vijaya Gadde.
Musk, known for his cryptic tweets, seemed to suggest in a tweet that he would be shaking up more leadership teams at Twitter.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2022
Musk went viral earlier this week when he brought his mother, Maye Musk, with him to the Met Gala.
During an interview on the red carpet with Entertainment Tonight, Maye Musk hilariously interrupted her son and said “he doesn’t listen.”
“Sir, I’d say you are the man who’s being much talked about around town, and around the world and maybe on Twitter, I don’t know, social media’s kinda going bananas over you right now,” the ET host began.
“I guess that’s — yeah, that’s probably true,” Musk replied.
“Well, a lot of folks — there are some critics out there that would say, why not —” the host continued.
“Critics? What?” Musk jokingly said.
“You?” the host played along. “Zero. Zero.”
“Thank goodness, phew,” Musk continued the joke. “For a second there I was worried.”
The ET host asked Musk about some criticizing his move to buy Twitter instead of using the money for something philanthropic.
“Well, I do a lot of things philanthropically,” Musk replied. “Really, my companies are intended to do good for the future of humanity, with Tesla trying to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport and energy. And SpaceX is providing internet to the least served people around the world.”
“The best space company in the world,” Maye interrupted then, repeating, “In the world!”
“And also what you’ve done for Ukraine as well,” the host added.
“Yeah,” Musk agreed. “Absolutely. So we were able to help Ukraine with the Starling terminals and give them connectivity in particularly some of the hardest-hit areas.”
“So aspirationally, I am trying to do good for humanity and the future of civilization,” he concluded.
“Where did you get this mentality?” the host asked, turning to Maye and asking, “Where did your son get this mentality?”
“I told him not to take on the world and the universe, and he didn’t listen,” Maye laughed.
“Clearly, not listening to mom,” the host laughed.
“Doesn’t listen to his mom,” Maye agreed.
The host turned back to Musk with one final question — namely, why he felt that it was important to attend an event like the Met Gala with all of the other things he had going on in his businesses and his life.
Maye interrupted again, answering for him: “I wanted him to come.”
“Yeah,” Musk laughed. “My mom wanted to come, so I brought my mom. That’s the reason.”
WATCH:
Elon Musk on his critics, the future of humanity and bringing his mom to the #MetGala. pic.twitter.com/wlcHlqbcy9
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) May 3, 2022
This comes as Twitter agreed to accept Musk’s offer to acquire the social media company.
However, Musk’s deal to purchase Twitter is not done yet.
A Securities and Exchange Commission filing related to the purchase shows Musk is on the hook to pay a $1 billion termination fee should the deal fall through.
In one instance, the filing states that if the deal is not finalized on or before October 24, 2022, the SEC filing stipulates that Twitter “may terminate the Merger Agreement.”
Additionally, it could also fail if Twitter stockholders “fail to adopt the Merger Agreement.”
The sale is expected to close this year at $54.20 per share pending the approval of shareholders and regulatory approvals.
