Elon Musk expected to lead Twitter temporarily after US$44 billion takeover
- Parag Agrawal, who was named Twitter’s CEO in November, is expected to remain in his role until the sale of the company to Musk is completed
- Musk increased his financing commitment to US$27.25 billion, which includes commitments from 19 investors, while reducing a margin loan from Morgan Stanley
Elon Musk is expected to become Twitter’s temporary CEO after closing his US$44 billion takeover of the social-media firm, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday, as the billionaire inches closer to securing funds for the deal.
Musk, the world’s richest man, is also the CEO at Tesla Inc and heads two other ventures, The Boring Company and SpaceX.
Tesla shares dropped over 8 per cent on Thursday, as investors fretted that Musk’s involvement with Twitter could distract him from running the world’s most valuable electric-car maker.
Twitter shares, on the other hand, extended gains and were up about 4 per cent at US$50.89, closer to the deal price of US$54.20, as investors bet that the new funding made the completion of the deal more likely.
Parag Agrawal, who was named Twitter’s CEO in November, is expected to remain in his role until the sale of the company to Musk is completed. CNBC first reported on Thursday that Musk plans to become CEO of Twitter on an interim basis.
Earlier on Thursday, Musk listed a group of high-profile investors who are ready to provide funding of US$7.14 billion for his Twitter bid, including Oracle’s co-founder Larry Ellison and Sequoia Capital.
Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who had said last month that the deal price was not sufficient for him to sell his shares, said Musk would be an “excellent leader” for Twitter and agreed to roll his US$1.89 billion stake into the deal.
“Great to connect with you my ‘new’ friend @elonmusk … Kingdom Holding Company and I look forward to roll our ~$1.9 bn in the ‘new’ Twitter,” Alwaleed said in a tweet.
