NO BIRD IN THE HAND

Musk’s Financing Hunt Mothballed After His Threats to Kill Twitter Deal: Report

The Tesla chief has been signaling he’ll axe the $44 billion acquisition unless the platform provides data on spam or fake accounts.

In arranging his Twitter deal, Elon Musk has racked up a $44 billion tab—but his efforts to split the bill have been, at least for now, stymied. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the search for financiers willing to fund the Tesla boss’ controversial acquisition has been shelved after Musk’s threats to back out of the deal. On Monday, the mogul demanded the social media platform provide data proving its claim that spam or fake accounts constitute less than 5 percent of its user base. Accusing the company of “actively resisting and thwarting his information rights,” Musk in a letter asserted his “right to terminate the merger agreement” should Twitter not pony up with the information. The entrepreneur has arranged debt financing to cover part of the deal, according to Reuters, but is currently obligated to pay $33.5 billion in cash. Talks with Apollo Global Management, which was previously reported to be interested in contributing between $2 billion and $3 billion in preferred equity financing, are now on hold.