Elon Musk secures $7 billion from mega-rich pals to buy Twitter

Elon Musk has drastically reduced his personal stake in a $44 billion takeover of social media giant Twitter with the help of some big names.

Elon Musk has secured $7.14 billion in funding from a coterie of investors including Oracle’s co-founder Larry Ellison to fund his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.

Musk, the world’s richest person with a net worth valued by Forbes at $265.4 billion, also received equity commitment letters from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Brookfield, Qatar Holding, and others, according to securities filings.

The move will help Musk reduce a margin loan against his stake in Tesla to $6.25 billion from the $12.5 billion announced earlier, the filing revealed.

The Post reported on Wednesday that Musk was closing in on raising $10 billion in cash from equity co-investors — mostly venture capital firms who have backed his other companies, like SpaceX.

The Thursday filing listed 19 investors, including billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

Elon Musk attends the 2022 Met Gala. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

The Saudi royal, who initially rejected Musk’s takeover bid, saying it was too low, is now apparently willing to contribute 35 million of his own shares of Twitter — worth $1.9 billion — to retain an investment once Musk takes the firm private, according to filings.

Ellison, the seventh richest person with a net worth valued at $105.7 billion. is willing to invest $1 billion, while Sequoia has pledged $800 million, the filing shows.

VyCapital ($700 million), cryptocurrency exchange firm Binance ($500 million), and venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz ($400 million) have also committed funds.

Musk will continue to hold talks with existing holders of Twitter, including the company’s former chief Jack Dorsey, to contribute shares to the proposed acquisition, the filing showed.

Larry Ellison and Sara Foster. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud and Princess Amira. (Photo by Indigo/Getty Images)

Reuters last week reported Musk was in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his Twitter acquisition and tying up less of his wealth in the deal.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk has been telling investors he aims to take the company public again within three years of the buyout. As previously reported by The Post, Thoma Bravo sees an opportunity to slash costs at Twitter and was hoping to land a high-profile deal.

Nevertheless, other top partners at Thoma Bravo fret that jumping into bed with Musk — who has posted a slew of sometimes bizarre tweets about his plans for Twitter, including that he plans to turn its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter — could be a disaster.

This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission