- Elon Musk is financing most of his Twitter takeover bid with debt, including a $12.5 billion personal loan.
- This margin loan, secured with his Tesla stock, was finalized in 6 days.
- Here’s why this unprecedented personal loan is risky, even for the world’s richest person.
Last Thursday evening, Elon Musk decided how he was going to finance his hostile takeover of Twitter. He gave Morgan Stanley, his longtime bank, less than a week to come together with the loans needed to buy the social media giant, a source familiar with the situation told Insider.
In six days, Morgan Stanley finalized $25.5 billion worth of debt commitments, which were revealed in an SEC filing today. The loans include $12.5 billion secured against Musk’s Tesla stock and another $13 billion that will be lent to Twitter if Musk succeeds. The world’s richest person has agreed to cover the remaining $21 billion.
Banks’ interest in participating in the loan was high — given another week to arrange the financing, “the whole Street” would have likely participated, the source told Insider.