When asked whether or not he would back Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion buyout of Twitter, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange, said he was on the fence. The United States is reportedly considering a security review of the deal.
CZ said “I think so” when asked if he would honour his financial commitment to Musk on Tuesday at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to earlier reports, Binance had pledged $500 million to Musk’s Twitter deal. Claiming to be “excited to help Elon realise his new vision for Twitter,” CZ made the declaration in an official announcement.
A judge in Delaware set the deadline for Musk and Twitter to finalise their deal at October 28th of this month. The two sides have been engaged in a heated litigation process leading up to trial on October 17. The ruling came after Musk announced on Twitter that he intends to proceed with closing the deal at the originally agreed-upon price.
Musk announced his plan to acquire Twitter in mid-April, at a price of $54.20 per share. The billionaire wanted out of the deal after the Twitter board approved it, claiming that bots were too prevalent of a problem.
Musk is using a combination of debt and equity financing to fund the acquisition. The sale of billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock by the billionaire is also contributing to the financing of the deal.
The Biden Administration Might Be Bound by the Agreement
Bloomberg reported last week that as the deal’s closing date draws near, the Biden administration is debating whether to subject some of Musk’s ventures, including the planned takeover of Twitter, to national security reviews.
U.S. officials are worried about Musk’s “increasingly Russia-friendly stance” after he tweeted peace proposals favourable to President Vladimir Putin, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, Washington is worried about Musk’s plan to buy the social media platform with a group of “foreign investors,” which could include Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.