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☆ This is the word of the summer on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —Bifurcation is the word of the summer. Or it’s the word of the summer among investors, at least. It’s a word that the market gets hung up on and then all you do is hear that word. But I think that’s nearing an end, and so I would expect a slowdown in consumer spending. I’m not so sure that’s going to happen this time because their balance sheets and cash flows aren’t as strong.

Persons: Bell, Scott Wren, I’ve, We’ve, You’ve, you’ve, they’ve, That’s, hasn’t, you’re, I’m, Elon Musk’s, Elon Musk, Anna Cooban, Andreesen Horowitz, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, xAI, Musk, Grok, Laura He, Xi Jinping’s Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Nvidia, Fed, Elon, Investors, Sequoia Capital, xAI, Worth, China Construction Bank, China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, National Enterprise Locations: New York, United States, Wells Fargo, Silicon, Saudi, OpenAI, China, ICBC, Beijing

☆ Elon Musk’s xAI firm valued at $24 billion as investors pledge more money
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —The AI firm founded by Elon Musk has raised another $6 billion from investors, including Silicon Valley venture capitalists and a Saudi prince, boosting its valuation to $24 billion. Investors providing the second-round funding included Sequoia Capital, Andreesen Horowitz, and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, xAI announced in a blog post on Sunday. Investors, lured by the potential for AI to revolutionize the way people live and work, have thrown huge sums of money at AI companies in recent years. Microsoft (MSFT) is OpenAI’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the firm. Last year, Amazon (AMZN) announced it would invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic AI in exchange for partial ownership of the company.

Persons: Elon Musk, Andreesen Horowitz, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, xAI, Musk, Grok Organizations: London CNN, Elon, Sequoia Capital, xAI, London . Investors, Microsoft, Google Locations: Silicon, Saudi, OpenAI, Palo Alto, San Francisco, London

☆ Elon Musk denied a report that Tesla planned to build a factory in Saudi Arabia. It's the latest development in his complicated history with the nation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Elon Musk has denied a report suggesting Tesla has plans to set up a factory in Saudi Arabia. It marks the latest twist in a long and complex history between Musk and Saudi Arabia. "Obviously, the Saudi sovereign fund has more than enough capital needed to execute on such a transaction." Funding secured. Funding secured."

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla, Musk, — Elon, Yasir al, hadn't, Jty05oJUTk, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Yasir Organizations: Street Journal, Service, Wall, Journal, Democratic, Saudi, Public Investment Fund, Tesla, New York Times, Lucid Motors, JPMorgan, Financial Times, Lucid, @elonmusk, Twitter, Kingdom Holding Co, Reuters, Bloomberg Locations: Saudi Arabia, Wall, Silicon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saudi, Here's, Tesla, Saudi Prince, San Francisco

☆ The Biden administration considered probing Elon Musk's Twitter purchase over national security concerns, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration reportedly considered an official review of Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. The White House had national security concerns over its foreign investors, per Bloomberg. Changpeng Zhao, the Binance CEO; Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal; and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund are all investors in Musk's Twitter. Some in the Biden administration considered whether Musk's deal should be brought in front of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which can block business transactions over security concerns, Bloomberg reported. In response to Insider's request for comment on the government's concerns, Twitter responded with a poop emoji – an auto-reply Musk announced Sunday.

☆ Elon Musk testifies he would have sold SpaceX stock to take Tesla private in 2018
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk told a San Francisco federal court on Monday that he could have sold shares of SpaceX to take Tesla private in 2018. Trading in Tesla was halted after his tweets, and its share price remained volatile for weeks. Musk said under oath, "SpaceX stock alone meant 'funding secured' by itself. I sold Tesla stock to complete the Twitter transaction. Musk recently became the CEO of social media business Twitter after leading a $44 billion leveraged buyout of the company in October 2022.

☆ Musk's bankers mull new Tesla margin loans to slash Twitter debt - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk's bankers are considering providing the Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer with new margin loans backed by the U.S. automaker's stock to replace some of the high interest debt on his Twitter deal, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The margin loans are one of the options that the Morgan Stanley (MS.N)-led bank group and Musk's advisers have discussed to ease the $13 billion debt Twitter took on as part of Musk's $44 billion deal, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Barclays Plc (BARC.L) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (8306.T) led the $13 billion financing for the bid by Musk. The banks are not expected to offload any of the Twitter debt to institutional investors until the new year, Bloomberg reported. Reuters reported in October that banks had abandoned plans to sell the debt to investors because of uncertainty around Twitter's fortunes and losses.

☆ E.U. warns Musk to beef up Twitter controls ahead of new rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Musk has signaled an interest in rolling back many of Twitter’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation, most recently by abandoning enforcement of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. He already reinstated some high-profile accounts that had violated Twitter’s content rules and had promised a “general amnesty” restoring most suspended accounts starting this week. Along with European regulators, Musk risks running afoul of Apple and Google, which power most of the world’s smartphones. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walked back her statements about whether Musk’s purchase of Twitter warrants government review. She declined to confirm whether CFIUS is currently investigating Musk’s Twitter purchase.

☆ Biden says Elon Musk's relationships with foreign countries are 'worthy of being looked at'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

President Joe Biden said Elon Musk's ties with foreign countries are "worth being looked at." A Saudi prince and a Qatari sovereign fund's subsidiary are major investors in Musk's Twitter. "I think that Elon Musk's cooperation and, or, technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at," he told reporters at a White House press conference. White House officials had earlier denied reports that it was planning a security review of Musk's dealings with Twitter. "The national security review, that is not true," said White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre on October 24.

☆ Tesla stock hits 2-year low after Musk sells $4 bln worth of shares
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Hyunjoo Jin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The latest sale brings the total amount of Tesla stock sold by Musk since last November to about $36 billion - despite his having said earlier that he would sell no more of his shares. Tesla shares have fallen more than 50% since touching a record high on Nov. 4 of last year. With the latest sale of his Tesla stock, Musk "yet again loses more credibility with investors and his loyalists in a boy who cried wolf moment," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said. Analysts had expected Musk to sell more Tesla shares to finance the $44 billion Twitter deal, but it was not clear whether the sales were related to the Twitter acquisition. It is not clear whether all of the equity investors lived up to their equity commitment.

☆ President Biden says Elon Musk's relationships with other countries are worth looking into
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

In this article TSLATWTR Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTJoe Biden, left, and Elon Musk Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters; Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAsked on Wednesday whether Tesla , SpaceX and Twitter CEO Elon Musk posed a threat to national security, President Joe Biden said that the centi-billionaire's "relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at." Biden said, "Elon Musk's cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at. Throughout 2022, Musk has accused the President of ignoring his electric vehicle venture, Tesla, despite its success, and favoring legacy automakers and their unions. The kingdom of Qatar also participated in Musk's Twitter deal. The Ukrainian government, which generally praises SpaceX and Musk, is now looking for alternatives to Starlink, Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said last Thursday.

☆ Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to remain invested in the company under Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from the company’s board earlier this year, but he’s staying involved with the social platform following its takeover by Elon Musk. Almost immediately after taking over the company, Musk dissolved Twitter’s board of directors. Later that year, Musk defended Dorsey when he was facing pressure from an activist investor, saying on Twitter, “I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO last November and left its board of directors in May. In April, after Musk agreed to buy the company, Dorsey pledged his support for the takeover.

☆ Musk informs co-investors he plans to close Twitter deal by Friday-source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: An image of Elon Musk is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. Musk pledged to close the deal on a video conference call on Monday with bankers who are helping fund the deal, according to the report. Musk has pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covers the $44 billion price tag and closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp, have committed to provide $13 billion of debt financing to support the deal. The closure of the deal will put to rest months of speculation that the erratic entrepreneur would abandon the takeover.

☆ Musk informs co-investors he plans to close Twitter deal by Friday, person familiar says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Elon Musk has notified co-investors who committed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) that he plans to close his buyout of the social media firm by Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move is the clearest sign yet that Musk plans to comply with a Delaware court judge's deadline to complete the transaction by Friday. Musk pledged to close the deal on a video conference call on Monday with bankers who are helping fund the deal, according to the report. Musk has pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covers the $44 billion price tag and closing costs. Banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), have committed to provide $13 billion of debt financing to support the deal.

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Elon Musk on Thursday closed the $44 billion deal announced in April to take Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) private and took ownership of the influential social media platform by firing top executives immediately. read more Earlier this month, Musk brought the deal back on the table after previously trying to walk away from it. Musk pledged to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing for the acquisition, which covered the $44 billion price tag and the closing costs. That had left Musk in need for an additional $22.4 billion of funds to cover the equity financing portion of the deal. Musk would have needed to raise an additional $2 billion to $3 billion to complete the financing for the deal.

☆ Twitter hunts for documents showing possible connection between Elon Musk and former executive turned whistleblower Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Zatko accused Twitter of lax security and other missteps during his time as a top executive. He also sided with Elon Musk in claiming "bots" are improperly quantified on the platform. Twitter now wants to know if Zatko has had prior dealings with Musk or those on his side of the deal. He also openly sided with Musk and his claims that Twitter hosts more "bots" or fake accounts that it publicly discloses. A section of Zatko's disclosure is titled "Lying about Bots to Elon Musk" and accuses Twitter of misrepresenting how it counts and combats spam accounts, saying "Elon Musk is correct."

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