Twitter: Elon Musk in talks to take on more investors in $44bn bid, report says

Former CEO Jack Dorsey ‘examining’ rolling over $1bn stake in company into deal

Elon Musk is in talks with investors about taking on more financing for his $44bn Twitter bid, which would tie up less of his own personal wealth in the deal, according to a report.

The Tesla boss, who is the world’s richest person, has been in talks with large investment firms and “high-wealth individuals” to join his purchase of the platform, says Reuters.

These reportedly include former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who could roll his 2.4 per cent stake in the social media platform into the deal, rather than cash out his almost $1bn worth of shares.

Mr Musk has a personal wealth of around $249bn, but he has publicly admitted that most of his wealth is tied up in shares of the electric vehicle maker and in SpaceX.

The entrepreneur last week sold $8.5bn worth of Tesla stock, in a addition to $16bn of shares that he sold in 2021.

Twitter’s board on Monday accepted Mr Musk’s offer of $54.20 per share in cash for total control of the company, that he has said he will take private.

The deal, which was unanimously recommended by the board, still needs to be ratified by shareholders and pass regulatory scrutiny.

Mr Musk, who has not confirmed exactly why he sold the shares, already owns nine per cent of Twitter.

He has put up $21bn of his own money to buy the social media company and is borrowing another $12.5bn, while Morgan Stanley is funding another $13bn.

The 50-year-old is Tesla’s largest shareholder with a 17 per cent stake.

A person familiar with the talks told Reuters that the new financing could “come in the form of preferred or common equity, could reduce the $21 billion cash contribution that Musk has committed to the deal as well as a margin loan he secured against his Tesla shares.”

Reuters says that Mr Musk has also been in talks with Twitter’s major shareholders about rolling their stake in the company into the deal, rather than cashing them out.

This reportedly also includes company co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who is “examining” if he will roll over his shares, worth around  $978bn at the agreed $54.20 share price.

Large institutional investors, such as Fidelity, are also in talks about rolling over their stake, according to Reuters.

Reuters contributed to this report.