Elon Musk secures $46.5bn to fund possible hostile bid for Twitter

Elon Musk has secured $46.5bn (£35.6bn) in financing to fund a possible hostile bid for Twitter and is putting up $21bn of his own money as part of the package.

On top of that equity, Musk is raising a further $12.5bn for the offer via a margin loan secured against his shares in Tesla, the electric carmaker that he runs as CEO. Morgan Stanley, the US investment bank, is leading a group of financial institutions providing $13bn in debt financing.

Musk, who has more than 82 million followers on Twitter and is a prolific user of the platform, hinted at the weekend that he was considering a tender approach.

The money Musk has personally set aside to fund the possible Twitter bid is less than the $23bn bonus he is now due to collect from Tesla after the electric car company reported record quarterly profits.

Musk, who is already sitting on an estimated $249bn fortune, is in line for the bonus share payout because Tesla hit share price and financial growth milestones in its earnings on Wednesday night.