Ever since Elon Musk launched his takeover of Twitter, fans of Tesla have worried about the genius getting distracted. And during the new Twitter's first six weeks - has it only been that long? - Musk has certainly come across a bit distracted. Addled, even.
Now we learn that, through the magic of finance, this squishy risk of distraction may be crystallized into a real overhang on Tesla's stock. Bloomberg News broke the story late Wednesday that Musk's bankers are considering new margin loans to him, backed by part of his stake in Tesla, to effectively replace the most expensive debt on Twitter's balance sheet. If that happens, it would be at once entirely unsurprising and yet take Musk's empire into new and potentially dangerous territory.