Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who initially spurned Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter, agreed to roll his $1.89 billion stake into the deal rather than cashing out, saying Tesla chief will be an “excellent leader” for the social media company.
On April 14, Alwaleed opposed Musk’s buyout bid saying the price offered by the world’s richest person did not come close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects.
In a Tweet on Thursday, however, Alwaleed said, “I believe you will be an excellent leader for Twitter to propel and maximize its great potential.”
“Kingdom Holding Company and I look forward to roll our ~$1.9 bn in the ‘new’ Twitter and join you on this exciting journey,” he added.
Media reports said Musk strengthened the equity stake of his offer to buy Twitter with commitments of more than $7 billion from a range of investors, including Silicon Valley heavy hitters like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.