Tech billionaire Elon Musk does not want to take out loans backed with his shares before the planned Twitter takeover. Originally, he wanted to raise 12.5 billion dollars (11.7 billion euros) in this way. Now, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement that Musk wanted to contribute this amount in a different way. The boss of the electric car maker Tesla had made financing commitments of more than $46 billion for the deal.
The waiver of the equity-backed loans was already expected after Tesla’s share price fell significantly with the announcement. After the switch, Musk now wants to contribute $33.5 billion in addition to other loans. In order to collect this amount, he is already bringing several investors on board.
According to the statement, Musk also wants to talk to longtime Twitter boss Jack Dorsey about putting his shares in a deal to remain involved with Twitter after the acquisition is completed. According to the latest information, Dorsey owns about 2.5 percent of Twitter, Musk has bought a good 9 percent share in recent months.
Twitter shares rose more than 6 percent in after-hours trading after the announcement. At just under $40, the price was still well below the $54.20 per share Musk had promised shareholders. Musk recently declared the deal on hold, but from Twitter’s point of view, he can’t unilaterally decide on that — and the agency is pushing for the deal.
Takeover at the general meeting not an issue
The deal was not discussed at the online service’s general meeting on Wednesday. Company chief Parag Agrawal referred to “legal reasons” for not being able to comment on the deal. Musk had reached an agreement with Twitter’s board of directors on a price of $54.20 per share, but shareholder approval is still required to complete the acquisition. Your vote will be scheduled for a later date.
Still, there was a minor scandal at the shareholders’ meeting: the co-chairman of the financial company Silver Lake, Egon Durban, was not re-elected to the board of directors after a preliminary count of shareholders’ votes. For co-founder Dorsey, his time on the board of directors ended as planned: When he retired from top management in November, it had already been announced that he would leave the board when his term at the annual general meeting expired.
Contrary to the board’s wishes, shareholders voted at the annual general meeting that a report should be prepared on Twitter’s political donations. So far, nothing is known about which candidates, parties or other organizations the company supported led to the proposal.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
