Last October, Elon Musk did something many of us wouldn't even dare to contemplate over our morning coffee – he borrowed a cool $1 billion from his own company, SpaceX, according to the Wall Street Journal. That same month he was also working to acquire Twitter, now X, for $44 billion.
Musk is SpaceX's largest shareholder with a 42% stake and almost 79% of its voting power as of March this year. Before you start thinking he's just your average billionaire with a penchant for borrowing money, let's clarify – he didn't just walk into SpaceX with an IOU scribbled on a napkin. No, this loan was backed by some of Musk's shares in SpaceX, and, he paid it back with interest a month later.
Big Numbers and Other Parties
But, here's where it gets interesting: This borrowed billion was no small change. SpaceX had $4.7 billion in cash and securities available to it at the end of last year, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. That $1 billion was a significant number. However, Musk didn't stop there. He also sold huge quantities of Tesla shares around the time of the Twitter deal.
Even Wall Street got in on the action. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America chipped in with around $13 billion to help fund Musk's Twitter ambitions, all backed by a slice of Musk's holdings in Tesla.
Pay Back and Falling Value
Now, here's the twist: it's Twitter, not Musk, that's responsible for paying back those Wall Street loans, complete with a yearly interest bill that's roughly $1.5 billion.
Fidelity, the name many Americans might associate with their retirement fund, has been a bit of a buzzkill, repeatedly slashing Twitter's estimated value. In May, they said it's worth just a third of what Musk originally paid.
What’s more, this isn't Musk's first SpaceX loan. Back in 2009, he casually borrowed $20 million from the company to help fuel the Tesla revolution. Fast forward to 2021, and he took out not one, not two, but three loans from SpaceX, each worth $500 million. He did, however, pay them back in full by year's end.
As for SpaceX, they're keeping their cards close to their chest and haven't chimed in on this financial escapade, if they do, you'll read about it here.
