- Tech investor Sequoia Capital is also backing Musk’s Twitter takeover bid alongside Binance.
- Sequoia Capital was also an early-stage investor in PayPal; a company co-founded by Musk.
Per multiple reports, crypto exchange, Binance, and tech investment firm, Sequoia Capital, are backing Elon Musk’s renewed interest in taking over the social media platform Twitter. Before Musk declared that he was no longer interested in taking over Twitter in April this year, the tech investor had committed $800 million to the deal.
Insider sources reveal that Sequoia Capital still intends to invest the same amount into the deal after Musk’s revived his interest in purchasing the social platform early this month. Popular crypto exchange, Binance, also hinted that it would contribute $500 million to Musk’s Twitter takeover deal. A Binance representative told the media that the company is still committed to the agreement, and there are no updates to share.
In May this year, Binance CEO, CZ, tweeted that the company wants to play a significant role in connecting social media with Web3. Thus, expanding the adoption and use of blockchain technology, including crypto. At the beginning of this month, multiple reports confirmed that Musk had reversed his previous decision and decided to go through with the purchase.
On October 3, Musk filed a notice with the Delaware Chancery Court stating that he was willing to go forward and close the transaction as agreed on the merger agreement on April 25. The social media platform released a statement confirming that it had received the letter. The company also intends to complete the transaction at $54.20 per share. The previous agreement was that Musk would purchase Twitter shares at $54.20 per share, which results in $44 billion in total.
Sequoia Capital and Musk have a history
This deal isn’t the first time Sequoia Capital would be backing Musk’s investment efforts. Sequoia Capital was one of the early-stage investors in a payment platform Musk co-founded, known as PayPal. The tech investor was no longer a part of PayPal in 2002 when eBay purchased the payment platform for $1.5 billion.
In April 2022, Sequoia Capital and Vy Capital led the financing round for Elon Musk’s tunneling startup (Boring co.) to raise $675 million. Boring Co. Plans to build transportation networks in deep underground tunnels to solve traffic congestion. Meanwhile, the crypto exchange, Binance, has also been making big moves across various industries this year.
In February this year, it placed a strategic investment of $200 million in the popular financial news media outlet, Forbes. The exchange explained that its reason for investing was to help people better understand blockchain and crypto. Besides the $500 million Binance is investing in Musk’s Twitter takeover, Binance has invested $325 million in various projects since January 2022.
Binance CEO also said the exchange would likely spend over $1 billion in commercial investments before the end of this year. Following Musk’s renewed interest to follow through with the takeover bid, Twitter shares soared by 22 percent.