magazine saidfortuneThe American said that Tesla owner Elon Musk managed to transform Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal from a fierce opponent of the Twitter purchase deal to a strong ally in less than three weeks.
On April 14, the Saudi prince rejected Musk’s offer, and Al-Walid, who owns shares in Twitter, tweeted, “I do not see that Elon Musk’s proposed offer to buy Twitter shares at $54.20 per share is close to the intrinsic value of the company, given its growth prospects.”
Then he continued, “As one of the largest contributors, I decline this offer.”
However, three weeks later, he returned his opinion, expressing his admiration for Musk and praising his leadership of Twitter, saying in a tweet: “Great to communicate with you, my new friend Elon Musk. I think you will be an excellent leader for Twitter to advance and maximize its great potential.”
“Kingdom Holding Company and I look forward to retaining our $1.9 billion stake in the new Twitter, and joining you on this exciting journey.”
According to the magazine, a decade ago, Alwaleed bin Talal invested $300 million in Twitter. She added that she did not know exactly how Musk was able to persuade him to change his mind.
But at the same time, she indicated that the review of the terms of the deal, especially those related to raising the returns of stockholders, provides some hints regarding that.
She added that the terms of the deal and the purchase of Twitter shares at a value of 54.20 means that the percentage of acquisition of the original investors in Twitter will increase.
For example, Alwaleed bin Talal’s stake of $1.9 billion at $54.20 per share will buy 5.65 percent of Twitter, an increase of regarding a quarter from what he currently owns, which is 4.57 percent of the company’s shares.
In addition, the magazine says, Musk has told potential investors that he will double or triple Twitter’s revenue in the next two years.
The magazine shows that Alwaleed bin Talal clearly believes that Musk will push Twitter’s stock much higher than $ 54.20. And if that happens, Alwaleed bin Talal will get an additional boost from the proceeds.
Musk, the world’s richest man, is also the CEO of Tesla, and heads two other projects, The Boring Company and SpaceX.
Last Thursday, Musk confirmed that he secured $7.14 billion to finance the purchase of Twitter, citing investors Larry Ellison, one of the founders of Oracle, and Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
In a document submitted Wednesday to the SEC, Musk mentioned a total of 19 investors who had agreed to participate in the purchase of the social network.
Billionaire Larry Ellison, who co-founded the Oracle Informatics Group, will contribute $1 billion.
Among the major contributors are investment fund Sequoia Capital ($800 million) and Fi Capital ($700 million), as well as cryptocurrency exchange Binance ($500 million).
As for Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, he will put at his disposal regarding 35 million shares he owns in Twitter, as soon as the sale is completed, in order to maintain a participation in the capital of the company that Musk wants to withdraw from trading on the New York Stock Exchange.