Like a boxer taking his opponent’s blows in the first round of a boxer match, the billionaire has observational stages. He watches his opponents to try to find their weakness before inflicting a fatal blow.
Tesla’s cynical CEO ,TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report has made an acquisition bid of $44 billion, or $54.20 per Twitter ,TWTR) – Twitter, Inc. get report To buy shares, the social network he describes as the “real city square” of the Internet.
Musk explains that his decision is driven by a desire to reinstate the principles of free speech on the platform. The deal has worried Democrats, who say they fear the world’s richest man will take over the stage for conservatives, and especially extremist and far-right voices. They also say that they fear an explosion of hate speech in the name of free speech.
new funding?
Musk has so far said that his Twitter will tolerate comments that fall within the legal framework and respect existing law in every country where the social network operates. Basically, as long as something doesn’t break the law, it will be accepted on Twitter.
The transaction also raises questions about its financing. The billionaire managed to secure $46.5 billion in loans from banks and margin loans guaranteed by his Tesla shares. And this part, which represents $21 billion, is what everyone is currently eyeing. Musk, who sold millions of Tesla shares for just over $8.5 billion, wants to reduce this cash contribution tied to his personal wealth, according to Reuters.
The new financing may come in the form of preferred or common equity. Musk is trying to persuade some of Twitter’s major shareholders, hedge funds and wealthy individuals to provide preferred equity financing for the acquisition.
The billionaire is trying to convince some shareholders not to sell their shares as part of the offer, but to remain shareholders of the group, even if it will be removed.
Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey is among the shareholders Musk reportedly told about his plans.
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Musk himself confirmed this information by commenting on a Twitter post that referred to the Reuters story.
“In addition, as mentioned earlier, we will try to legally have as many shareholders as possible in the privately held Twitter!” According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the billionaire whose net worth is estimated to be $258 billion as of May 3.
Fee for commercial / government users
Beyond funding, the other question that many observers are asking is what economic model does Musk intend to adopt for Twitter? The tycoon had mentioned the idea of removing ads from the platform, and specifically to customers of Blue, a subscription service offered by Twitter that gives users access to premium features, such as the ability to cancel a tweet. ability. These features are available wherever you use the Twitter account you are subscribed to.
“Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should receive an authentication checkmark,” Musk suggested on April 9, referring to one of the new products. “The tweet feature can already be modified for 20 seconds in Blue to edit,” he said.
Musk, after finalizing his acquisition of Twitter in October, has unveiled the first ideas of the economic model he intends to implement, if all goes according to plan. Entrepreneur indicates that the platform will remain free to ordinary users. But on the other hand, Twitter will charge a little bit for businesses, companies and government users.
“Twitter will always be free for casual users,” Musk told his more than 90 million followers on Twitter on May 3.
Billionaire did not give much details: How much will this nominal price be? Who comes in the government category?
Twitter Blue currently costs $2.99 per month. However, Twitter mainly derives its revenue from advertising.
There is currently a lot of speculation about Musk’s intentions regarding Twitter. The Wall Street Journal just reported that Mogul intends to take the firm public again with an IPO within the next three years.