Elon Musk has secured financing commitments of $46.5 billion, or 42.7 billion euros, to buy Twitter. The richest man in the world plans to launch a takeover bid for the outstanding securities of the social network, shows this Thursday, April 21, a document filed with the regulatory authorities.
$46.5 billion. This is the colossal amount, higher than the GDP of Cameroon or Tunisia according to data from the World Bank, which Elon Musk is preparing to propose to buy Twitter.
Of this amount, 33.5 billion dollars represent funds provided personally by the boss of the car manufacturer, including $21 billion in equity, i.e. less than 8% of his personal wealth, and $12.5 billion in loans. The participation of banks, including Morgan Stanley, amounts to 13 billion dollars.
The American billionaire of South African origin, second shareholder of Twitter with a stake of 9.1%, had proposed on April 14 to acquire his target for 43 billion dollars, explaining that the social network should be withdrawn from the Scholarship to be able to relaunch its growth and become a platform dedicated to freedom of expression.
This offer, perceived as hostile, led Twitter to set up a so-called “poison pill” mechanism, which allows shareholders to exercise their rights if an investor acquires 15% or more of the group’s shares in an operation that does not would not have been previously approved by the board of directors. Since investment fund Thoma Bravo LP contacted Twitter last week to explore an alternative offer to Elon Musk’s, several private equity firms have also shown interest in the social network.
What might this change for users?
As our colleagues from MarianneElon Musk describes himself as “free speech absolutist”said he wanted to “unleash the potential of Twitter” by letting people “speak freely within the limits of the law”.
“But since racist and anti-Semitic speech, or the dissemination of private information are legal in the United States, this kind of remarks might once more be authorized on Twitter”, analyzes Marianne, recalling the collusion between the boss of Tesla and former US President Donald Trump.
By acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk might havea weapon of massive communication and to weigh with all its weight on the media ground.
