Elon Musk & Twitter: Now For the Hard Part

The Tesla CEO’s scheme to buy the social network has churned up global markets. But there are still many uncertainties facing the deal.

• It is a well-known procedure throughout Elon Musk’s career: The Tesla CEO makes an announcement shaking the markets. After that reality kicks in and the feasibility is being put into question.
• The same goes for Musk’s plan to purchase the Twitter network, an acquisition with a volume of 44 billion US dollars. Even the richest man in the world cannot pay for such a deal out of his pockets.
• A day after the announcement Tesla shares dropped significantly because investors had started to do the math: Musk might have to sell parts of the electric car maker in order to pay for Twitter.
• Even worse an earlier deal from last year might come under more intense scrutiny. Musk’s brother Kimbal had sold 10 percent of his Tesla share before Elon announced similar steps.
• Furthermore it is still completely unclear how the Tesla CEO intends to make money with his new acquisition. The price he is planning to pay for Twitter is significantly above market value.
• Both employees and investors are wondering which direction the company might take considering its rather poor economic performance in the past. The story of Musk and Twitter has only just begun.