‘DEFEAT THE SPAM BOTS’: Musk Signals He Has All The Money He Needs To Take Over Twitter
Harry Wilmerding on April 22, 2022
Elon Musk says he has the funds lined up to take over Twitter and is considering taking the offer straight to shareholders, according to multiple reports.
Musk, who is one the largest shareholders of Twitter, secured $46.5 billion to pay for his offer totaling $54.20 per share, according to Securities and Exchange (SEC) filings released on April 20.
“If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!,” Musk tweeted on Thursday. “And authenticate all real humans.”
Musk will finance the offer with the help of multiple banks who will provide him with debt to finance the deal, according to the SEC filings. The Tesla chief executive officer will provide his own $21 billion in cash and receive an additional $25 billion in debt from banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Barclays, The Wall Street Journal reported.
If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2022
“The Reporting Person is seeking to negotiate a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Twitter by the Reporting Person and is prepared to begin such negotiations immediately,” the filing said.
To secure the bank loans, Musk will issue $62.5 billion, or one third of his ownership, of Tesla shares as collateral, according to the WSJ. In order for Musk to raise the necessary $21 billion in cash, Musk will most likely have to sell a large portion of his stock in his various businesses including SpaceX and Boring.
The Twitter board is expected to reject Musk’s unsolicited offer after it used the “poison pill” to block Musk’s effort to buy the company, the WSJ reported. The poison pill prohibits Musk from owning over 15% of the company and allows investors to purchase shares at a discounted price, reducing the value in Musk’s ownership.
Tesla and Twitter did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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