Nathan Stirk/Getty Images News
Update 1:35pm: Updates to show Musk denies the story in a tweet.
Billionaire Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) chief Elon Musk denied a report that said he’s evaluating raising up to $3 billion to help pay down some of the $13 billion in debt he accumulated in purchasing Twitter.
Musk’s representatives last month talked about selling up to $3 billion in new Twitter shares, according to a WSJ report, which cited people familiar. An equity raise could be used to pay done the unsecured portion of debt, which carries the highest interest.
Musk denied the story in a tweet.
Last Tuesday the FT reported that Musk could look to restructure the debt used to buy Twitter, as the publication added that Musk is in discussions with banks to replace the roughly $3B of unsecured debt yielding 11.75% with margin loans, using his Tesla (TSLA) stake as collateral.
The latest report comes after an investor in Musk’s $44 billion takeover of social media giant Twitter (TWTR) confirmed last month that a representative for the billionaire recently reached out to him about investing in the company. Ross Gerber said a representative for the Tesla CEO reached out to him on last month about investing in Twitter at the same price Musk paid for the company, $54.20 a share.
Musk vowed late last month that he won’t sell any more Tesla stock for about two years.
