Prince Alwaleed confirms $1.9bn stake in Elon Musk’s ‘new’ Twitter

Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on Thursday billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk will be an “excellent leader” for Twitter, as he agreed to roll his $1.89 billion stake into the deal rather than cashing out.

Prince Alwaleed had on April 14 opposed the buyout bid, saying the price offered by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, did not come close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects.

But on Thursday he said in a tweet it was great to connect with his “new friend” Musk.

“I believe you will be an excellent leader for Twitter to propel and maximise its great potential,” Alwaleed said in the tweet responding to Kingdom Holding and Musk.

“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.

Kingdom Holding did not respond to a Reuters request for further comment.

• Musk’s Twitter free speech promise may be tested in Middle East
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While the prince owns stakes in many companies such as Citigroup Inc and ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc, his investment firm has been selling its stakes in hotels over the last 10 years.

Late last year Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC agreed to take control of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts by buying about half of Prince Alwaleed’s stake for $2.21 billion.

Show us your money: how the deal stacks up

Elon Musk has won the backing of some of the world’s wealthiest investors for his $44 billion takeover of Twitter. The breakdown goes like this:

• Musk increased his financing commitment to $27.25 billion, from $21 billion – including the new $7.14 billion funding announced on Thursday
• The margin loan from Morgan Stanley tied to his Tesla stock stands at $6.25 billion, down from $12.5 billion announced on April 21
• Musk has secured commitments from banks for $13 billion in loans secured against Twitter shares

The following is a list of investors who have together promised around $7 billion in funding:

• A.M. Management & Consulting – $25 million
• AH Capital Management (VC firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz) – $400 million
• Aliya Capital Partners (SpaceX investor) – $360 million
• BAMCO (Investment adviser) – $100 million
• Binance (Cryptocurrency firm) – $500 million
• Brookfield (Canadian investment firm with over $690 billion assets under management) – $250 million
• DFJ Growth IV Partners – $100 million
• Fidelity Management & Research Company – $316 million
• Honeycomb Asset Management (Private investment firm) – $5 million
• Key Wealth Advisors – $30 million
• Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust (Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s trust) – $1 billion
• Litani Ventures (Chicago-based VC firm) – $25 million
• Qatar Holding (Investment house founded by Qatar Investment Authority) – $375 million
• Sequoia Capital Fund – $800 million
• Strauss Capital LLC – $150 million
• Tresser Blvd 402 LLC – $8.5 million
• VyCapital (Dubai-based investment firm) – $700 million
• Witkoff Capital (New York-based real estate) – $100 million
• Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (Twitter investor) – $1.89 billion