A consortium of major banks—including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays, and Mitsubishi UFJ—has successfully sold the final portion of debt linked to Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X. A source with direct knowledge of the deal disclosed this to Reuters on Monday.
This final tranche, valued at $1.2 billion, sold at 98 cents on the dollar and offered a yield of 9.5%. According to the source, Musk’s favorable standing with former U.S. President Donald Trump and growing optimism about X’s revenue outlook gave the banks the leverage they needed to unload nearly the entire $13 billion loan package that had remained on their balance sheets for close to two years.
Breakdown of the Original Debt Package
Musk financed the Twitter takeover in 2022 using a complex mix of loans. The structure included:
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A $6.5 billion secured term loan
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A $500 million revolving credit facility
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$3 billion in unsecured loans
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$3 billion in secured loans
Morgan Stanley led a group of seven lenders that committed a combined $13 billion to support Musk’s bid for the social media platform.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Morgan Stanley had begun offering the final segment of its $1.23 billion share in the form of a fixed-rate loan. The offering carried a 9.5% interest rate and was discounted between 97.5 and 98 cents on the dollar—pricing that has now materialized in the latest sale.
Market Reception and Media Silence
Despite the scale of the deal, the banks involved have remained tight-lipped. While Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Mitsubishi UFJ, and X declined to respond to Reuters’ requests for comment, Bank of America officially refused to comment on the transaction. The Wall Street Journal was the first to break news of the sale earlier in the day.
Valuation Shift and Strategic Moves
In a related development, Musk recently revealed that his artificial intelligence company, xAI, had acquired X in a new deal that values the platform at $33 billion. This valuation marks a substantial decline from the original $44 billion purchase price, signaling a recalibration of X’s market worth following shifts in the advertising landscape and ongoing restructuring under Musk’s leadership.
A Nearly Closed Chapter in a High-Stakes Acquisition
With this final debt sale completed, banks have nearly closed the chapter on one of the most high-profile tech acquisitions in recent history. For months, financial institutions struggled to find buyers for the debt due to uncertain economic conditions and X’s volatile performance post-acquisition. However, the recent sale suggests improving investor confidence in the company’s trajectory, especially under Musk’s intensified focus on AI and subscription-based services.
Although questions remain about X’s long-term profitability, the successful disposal of the debt offers relief to lenders and reflects a growing appetite in the debt market for high-yield investments tied to prominent tech assets.
