The founder of Tesla and SpaceX is more than ever on the radar of American authorities. The Biden administration is considering subjecting some of Elon Musk’s businesses to national scrutiny, including the pending acquisition deal for Twitter and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. .
American leaders are uncomfortable with very political statements expressed in recent days on Twitter by the billionaire. In particular, he threatened to stop providing Starlink satellite service to Ukraine – he said it had cost him $80 million so far. He later backtracked and said he would continue to bear the costs of the service. Elon Musk’s positions are also considered increasingly conciliatory vis-à-vis Russia: in a series of recent tweets, he listed proposals perceived as favorable to President Vladimir Putin.
In this context, the American authorities are scrutinizing the rise of the SpaceX military and intelligence satellite launch company, which Elon Musk managed to impose after vigorously lobbying Congress, recalls Bloomberg.
Twitter penalized on the stock market
Washington is also concerned about its plan to buy Twitter for $44 billion with a group of foreign investors, according to Bloomberg. In fact, the group includes Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, which was founded in Shanghai.
The announcement made the markets react: Twitter lost 8% in pre-market trading on Friday noon.
According to information from washington postElon Musk could also cut Twitter’s workforce by 75% as part of his takeover. Bloomberg News confirmed that potential investors had been made aware of the reduction plan, as well as an effort to double revenue in three years.
Talks to review Elon Musk’s businesses are at an early stage, sources told Bloomberg. Such an initiative would be based on the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), which reports to the United States Department of the Treasury.
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