Tesla founder Elon Musk is close to buying the micro-blogging platform Twitter, two sources familiar with the matter said, in a move that would bring together the world's richest man with his favorite social networking service, according to an exclusive report published by Wall Street. Wall Street Journal.
Twitter's board was negotiating with Musk in the early hours of Monday about his unwanted bid to buy the company, especially after it began raising $46.5 billion to fund the bid last week, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information. "Confidentiality".
These sources said the two sides were discussing details including the timeline for closing any potential deal, and any fees that would be paid if an agreement was signed and then collapsed.
The discussions followed a meeting of Twitter's board of directors, on Sunday morning, to discuss Musk's offer, the same sources said.
The sources said the acquisition of funding commitments was a turning point in how the board viewed Musk's offer of $54.20 per share, enabling the company's 11 board members to consider his offer.
The agreement has not been finalized yet and is still in its infancy, but what initially appeared to be a highly improbable deal seems to be coming to an end.
People familiar with the matter said the situation between Twitter and Musk remains resilient and is progressing rapidly.
Musk, who has more than 83 million followers on Twitter and began raising shares in the company earlier this year, announced his intention to buy the company on April 14 and make it private.
But Wall Street quickly rejected his proposal because it wasn't clear if he could provide the money to make the deal.
Faced with the move, Twitter has also adopted the "poison pill," a defensive maneuver that would prevent Musk from accumulating more company stock.
Musk updated his proposal last week, which pressured Twitter to consider his proposal more seriously.
He explained how he raised funding from investment bank Morgan Stanley and a group of other lenders who provided $13 billion, plus another $12.5 billion in loans for shares in Tesla, the electric car company he runs.
It was expected to add about $21 billion in equity financing.
A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment to the New York Times.
In previous public statements, the company said its board of directors "continues to conduct a careful, comprehensive, and considered review to determine a course of action that is in the best interest of the company and all of Twitter's shareholders."
Musk also did not respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Twitter has clearly accepted Musk's offer.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note Sunday that Wall Street is likely to see the Twitter board's opening to Musk's presentation as "the beginning of the end for Twitter as a public company, with Musk likely entering the acquisition path." The company is required to do so unless there is something new to prevent this transaction from taking place.”