Musk's Twitter Acquisition Strains Bank Relationships

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as 'X', is being labeled as the worst leveraged buyout for banks since the 2008 financial crisis, with $13 billion in loans remaining unsold due to the platform's plummeting performance. The value of Twitter has reportedly dropped to between $15 billion and $20 billion, approximately half of the $44 billion Musk paid in 2022. The involved banks, including Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, have experienced significant losses and are unable to offload the debt, which is now stuck on their balance sheets. Despite the faltering financials, Musk has continued to meet his annual payment obligations of about $1.5 billion. The platform's decline has been exacerbated by controversial decisions, such as eliminating the blue check verification system and a rising tide of hate speech. Musk's aggressive stance towards advertisers has further strained revenue, leading to lawsuits over alleged conspiracies against the platform.