May 5, 2022
So Elon Musk is buying Twitter. If you’re anything like us, you’re wondering how exactly he has $44 billion on hand to do this??? We knew he was rich (the world’s richest, in fact), but, whaaaat? Well, turns out the deal is an unconventional one, according to this piece in the New York Times. But that’s no surprise really, it’s Musk, the quintessential industry disrupter, after all. He’s using a mix of cash—raised by selling Tesla shares and offering them as collateral for personal loans—and about $13 billion in borrowed money, which is “more debt than Twitter may be able to handle, given its patchy profitability,” the article notes. Whether Musk’s move is a brilliant one, or doomed to failure, is too early to say. But it will be fascinating to watch.