Technology

Ellison, Binance and Sequoia back Musk’s $44bn bid for Twitter

Biggest backing of $1bn comes from Oracle co-founder

Elon Musk and his mother Maye Musk arrive for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York earlier his week. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP

Oliver Ralph
Arash Massoudi
Antoine Gara
Thu May 5 2022 - 12:49

Elon Musk has revealed that he has raised $7.14 billion (€6.76 billion) of funding for his $44 billion buyout of Twitter, from investors including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, crypto exchange Binance and asset management firms Fidelity, Brookfield and Sequoia Capital.

With the new financing commitments, Mr Musk will cut the margin loan he has taken with a group of lenders by half to $6.25 billion and increase the equity commitment to $27.25 billion. The remainder of the purchase price will be paid with debt raised from global banks.

The biggest new backing for his purchase comes from Mr Ellison, who is contributing $1 billion. Venture capital firm Sequoia is providing $800 million, while Dubai-based tech investment firm VyCapital is giving $700 million. Binance is providing $500 million.

Saudi investor

Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, already an investor in Twitter, will roll 35 million shares into the bid vehicle, which at the offer price equates to a $1.9 billion stake.

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Mr Musk also revealed also working to bring in additional equity investors, including billionaire Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey by giving existing shareholders an option to contribute their shares to the buyout.

He added in the filing that any further contributions may replace portions of the financing commitments previously arranged. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022

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