Binance, the world’s
largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume, and 18 other
equity investors committed over $7.1 billion to American billionaire Elon
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.
This is according to an
updated Schedule 13D form filed before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday.
According to the form,
Binance contributed $500 million in total aggregate commitment.
However, Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, a Saudi
Arabian royal, businessman and chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, led the
equity investments with a $1.8 billion commitment through his almost 35 million
shares.
Saud’s investment is
closely followed by the Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust whose aggregate
equity commitment stood at $1 billion.
Other Equity Investors
A.M. Management &
Consulting, AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (a16z), Aliya Capital Partners LLC,
and BAMCO, Inc. (Baron) invested $25 million, $400 million, $360 million,
and $100 million respectively.
On the other hand,
Brookfield, DFJ Growth IV Partners, LLC, Fidelity Management & Research
Company LLC, Honeycomb Asset Management LP, and Key Wealth Advisors LLC also
committed $250 million, $100 million, $316 million, $5 million, and $30 million
respectively.
Also, Litani Ventures,
Qatar Holding LLC, Sequoia Capital Fund, L.P., and Strauss Capital LLC
committed $25 million, $375 million, $800 million, and $150 million,
respectively.
Additionally, Tresser
Blvd 402 LLC (Cartenna), VyCapital and Witkoff Capital added $8.5 million, $700
million, and $100 million respectively, to the equity investment.
Binance Reacts
Reacting to the public
disclosure of the equity investments, Binance founder, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao
described the exchange’s investment as “a small contribution to the cause.”
A small contribution to the cause. https://t.co/xD9XZxOWfL
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) May 5, 2022
Late last month, Musk
agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at
approximately $44 billion.
In a statement, Twitter
said Musk committed $25.5 billion in debt and margin loan financing and is also
providing approximately $21.0 billion in equity.
Musk, who also
co-founded SpaceX and The Boring Company, among others, said his desire to
promote free speech on the social media platform is at the center of his takeover.
The billionaire, who
said Twitter has “tremendous potential,” further explained that he wants to
enhance Twitter “with new features, making the algorithms
open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all
humans.”
“Free speech is the
bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square
where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a
statement announcing the acquisition.
Binance, the world’s
largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume, and 18 other
equity investors committed over $7.1 billion to American billionaire Elon
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.
This is according to an
updated Schedule 13D form filed before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday.
According to the form,
Binance contributed $500 million in total aggregate commitment.
However, Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, a Saudi
Arabian royal, businessman and chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, led the
equity investments with a $1.8 billion commitment through his almost 35 million
shares.
Saud’s investment is
closely followed by the Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust whose aggregate
equity commitment stood at $1 billion.
Other Equity Investors
A.M. Management &
Consulting, AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (a16z), Aliya Capital Partners LLC,
and BAMCO, Inc. (Baron) invested $25 million, $400 million, $360 million,
and $100 million respectively.
On the other hand,
Brookfield, DFJ Growth IV Partners, LLC, Fidelity Management & Research
Company LLC, Honeycomb Asset Management LP, and Key Wealth Advisors LLC also
committed $250 million, $100 million, $316 million, $5 million, and $30 million
respectively.
Also, Litani Ventures,
Qatar Holding LLC, Sequoia Capital Fund, L.P., and Strauss Capital LLC
committed $25 million, $375 million, $800 million, and $150 million,
respectively.
Additionally, Tresser
Blvd 402 LLC (Cartenna), VyCapital and Witkoff Capital added $8.5 million, $700
million, and $100 million respectively, to the equity investment.
Binance Reacts
Reacting to the public
disclosure of the equity investments, Binance founder, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao
described the exchange’s investment as “a small contribution to the cause.”
A small contribution to the cause. https://t.co/xD9XZxOWfL
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) May 5, 2022
Late last month, Musk
agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at
approximately $44 billion.
In a statement, Twitter
said Musk committed $25.5 billion in debt and margin loan financing and is also
providing approximately $21.0 billion in equity.
Musk, who also
co-founded SpaceX and The Boring Company, among others, said his desire to
promote free speech on the social media platform is at the center of his takeover.
The billionaire, who
said Twitter has “tremendous potential,” further explained that he wants to
enhance Twitter “with new features, making the algorithms
open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all
humans.”
“Free speech is the
bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square
where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a
statement announcing the acquisition.
