From: zerohedge
Alt-MarketAntiWar.comBitcoin MagazineBombthrowerBULLIONSTARCapitalist ExploitsChristophe BarraudDollar CollapseDr. Housing BubbleFinancial RevolutionistForexLiveGains Pains & CapitalGefiraGMG ResearchGold CoreImplode-ExplodeInsider PaperLiberty BlitzkriegMax KeiserMises InstituteMish TalkNewsquawkOf Two MindsOil PriceOpen The BooksPeter SchiffPortfolio ArmorQTR’s Fringe FinanceSafehavenSlope of HopeSpotGammaTF Metals ReportThe Automatic EarthThe Burning PlatformThe Economic PopulistThe Libertarian InstituteThemis TradingThoughtful MoneyValue WalkVisual Combat Banzai7Wolf Street
Elon Musk secured a multibillion-dollar margin loan using Tesla stock as collateral to finance his acquisition of Twitter (now rebranded as X). In recent months, Tesla’s share price has been cut in half due to a confluence of factors–slowing EV demand amid high interest rates, shifting electric vehicle policies under the Trump administration, market volatility driven by trade tensions, and pressure from a coordinated NGO-driven color revolution known as “Tesla Takedown,” aimed at crashing the stock to trigger loan repayment obligations tied to Musk’s pledged equity.
In short, volatility in Tesla shares left Musk heavily exposed to potential loan repayment thresholds being triggered – which was set to occur at or below $114 according to reports – until now.
On Friday evening, Musk announced the merger of X with his AI startup, xAI, in an all-stock transaction that strengthens his financial position, protects Tesla shareholders, and renders the Tesla Takedown color revolution largely ineffective in achieving its intended goal.
Musk outlined xAI’s acquisition of X:
@xAI has acquired @X in an all-stock transaction. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt). Since its founding two years ago, xAI has rapidly become one of the leading AI labs in the world, building models and data centers at…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 28, 2025
Musk privately owns and controls both xAI and X.
The transaction is structured as a stock swap, with X investors receiving xAI shares in return. Both companies share overlapping investors, including Fidelity Management, Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Co, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Vy Capital.
Musk, also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, purchased Twitter in a $44 billion deal in 2022. X CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote on X last night: “The future could not be brighter.”
.@X + @xAI The future could not be brighter ✨ https://t.co/GoJE99KxxI
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) March 28, 2025
Musk’s X post announcing the acquisition stated that the deal was about “blending” the AI startup and social media platform to create “a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress.” However, the move also eliminates the risk of Musk undergoing a forced liquidation of the $12.5 billion margin loan backed by his Tesla shares.
As we previously described at the beginning of the note, Tesla shares were halved for a number of reasons:
Last week, the Democratic Party and their Communist revolutionaries spelled out their sinister plans…
“If we kill the Tesla brand” and “drive down the stock price low enough. We can force him to sell his stock to pay back the billions of dollars of debt he took on to buy Twitter.
“This will drive Tesla into a death spiral,” Micah Lee, The Intercept’s former Director of Information Security, explained on a recent Tesla Takedown teleconference with other far-left revolutionaries.
🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨 Micah Lee, @theintercept‘s former Director of Information Security, participated in the Tesla Takedown call to action tonight. Interesting. Check this out! @ggreenwald The former Director of Information Security for the Intercept was on the call to action for… pic.twitter.com/rQKz658JeZ
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 20, 2025
Musk’s indebtedness from leveraging Tesla shares to fund the X deal is no longer a concern for Tesla shareholders. This strategic move also renders the Tesla Takedown color revolution funded by rogue Democrats less likely to force a liquidation.