Elon Musk changed his Twitter bio to "Chief Twit" on Wednesday, as the Tesla CEO and world's richest man enters the final stages of finalizing a deal to acquire the company.
The change could be a sign that Musk plans to appoint himself CEO of Twitter once he acquires it — or create a "made-up" title as he has at Tesla, where he is listed on financial documents as "Technoking."
CNBC first reported in May that Musk was likely to name himself interim CEO after closing the $44 billion deal. It would be a temporary arrangement that would last "a few months," according to CNBC. But a lot has changed since May, so it's unclear if Musk plans to take on a temporary or permanent title, if any at all.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
A Delaware judge gave Musk and Twitter until this Friday at 5 p.m. ET to close a deal. If it's not reached, a trial will resume in November, which experts told Insider Musk would likely lose.
Musk tried to get out of the deal, but agreed again to buy Twitter at his original offer earlier this month — after a bevy of his private texts were released as part of Twitter's lawsuit against him.
Twitter's current CEO is Parag Agrawal, whose relationship with Musk imploded after Musk's initial offer. Some of the released texts showed the falling out that led to Musk initially pulling out of the deal.
A court has given Musk until Friday to close an agreement to acquire the company, which would end months of turmoil after the billionaire agreed to buy the social network, then tried to back out.
Despite Musk’s splashy entry to headquarters, it was not clear yet whether his purchase of Twitter had been finalized. Twitter confirmed to the Associated Press that Musk’s video tweet was real but wouldn’t comment further.
Reuters reported this week that Musk has notified investors involved in the deal that he plans to finalize the buyout by Friday’s deadline.
One of Musk’s biggest obstacles to closing the deal was keeping in place the financing pledged roughly six months ago. A group of banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, signed on earlier this year to loan $12.5bn of the money Musk needed to buy Twitter and take it private.
Solid contracts with Musk bound the banks to the financing, although changes in the economy and debt markets since April have probably made the terms less attractive. Musk even said his investment group would be buying Twitter for more than it’s worth.
Musk’s flirtation with buying Twitter appeared to begin in late March. That’s when Twitter said he contacted members of its board, including co-founder Jack Dorsey, and told them he was buying up shares and was interested in either joining the board, taking Twitter private or starting a competitor.
Then, on 4 April, he revealed in a regulatory filing that he had become the company’s largest shareholder after acquiring a 9% stake worth about $3bn.
At first, Twitter offered Musk a seat on its board. But six days later, CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted that Musk would not be joining the board after all. His bid to buy the company quickly followed.
When Musk agreed to buy Twitter, he inserted a “420” marijuana reference into his price of $54.20 per share. He sold roughly $15bn worth of shares in Tesla to help fund the purchase, then pulled together commitments for billions more from a diverse group of investors including Silicon Valley heavy hitters like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
At some point, he also changed his bio to "Chief Twit."
Musk's dealings with Twitter have spiraled into an epic public drama over the past several months. He bought up shares of the social media company, joined then un-joined its board, moved to acquire it in April, attempted to back out of the acquisition in July, and then faced a lawsuit from Twitter compelling him to complete it.
In early October, Musk publicly stated he will move forward with the acquisition at its original price, about $44 billion. He said on a Q3 Tesla earnings call that he is "obviously overpaying" for the company.
Twitter's lawyers actually did not respond well to this comment, saying it was an "invitation to further mischief and delay."
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