Tesla CEO Elon Musk shocked the entire globe with his decision to take over Twitter. While the deal initially fell apart, it managed to finally come through. This $44 billion acquisition, however, entailed the involvement of several investors across the globe. Since this purchase involved foreign governments, as well as investors, Treasury Department officials, began checking to see if they had the authority to review Musk’s Twitter takeover.
The Washington Post reported that it was quite usual to investigate whether a review was necessary, although these preliminary investigations frequently do not result in a complete probe. It should be noted that the Treasury officials were still unsure about the level of access these large investors had.
In addition to this, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States [CFIUS] was still in a dilemma with regard to Musk’s Twitter acquisition. The CFIUS hadn’t decided whether the world’s richest man’s purchase could tick off a national security review.
It should be noted that CFIUS reviews are usually conducted on foreign nationals, however, Musk is a US citizen. Therefore, reviewing this whole deal remains dubious at the moment. Speaking about the same, a Treasury spokesperson stated,
“CFIUS is committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to safeguard U.S. national security. Consistent with law and practice, CFIUS does not publicly comment on transactions that it may or may not be reviewing.”
Here’s who funded Musk’s $44 billion Twitter deal
Making sure there was some investment from the crypto-verse, Musk got Binance’s Changpeng Zhao to invest a whopping $500 million in equity. While Binance had previous affiliations with China, a spokesperson from the exchange dismissed any association with the Asian country.
Other foreign investors included the Saudi Prince who emerged as the 2nd largest shareholder at Musk’s Twitter. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Prince Al Waleed bin Talal and the Saudi Kingdom Holding Company [KHC] announced that they had poured $1.89 billion into the deal.
While the US and Saudi Arabia aren’t on very good terms, its latter’s involvement with a social media giant seemed to be threatening. Several noted how the Saudis who entailed a desire to “repress political speech and impacting US politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform.”
Chris Murphy, a US Senator who made the above statement noted how this was a “clear national security issue” that needed to be addressed by the CFIUS. It remains unclear the authority that Saudi Arabia entails over Twitter. Yet the CFIUS is sure to look into the matter if Murphy a US senator urges the committee through a letter.