Elon Musk is expected to serve as a temporary CEO of Twitter for a few months after he completes his $44 billion takeover of the social media company, sources told CNBC’s David Faber.
Twitter shares rose 2.69% in premarket trading.
An SEC filing on Thursday revealed Musk secured approximately $7.14 billion in equity commitments from friends and other investors to buy Twitter. Faber said Musk handpicked the investors, ranging from $1 billion from Larry Ellison to $5 million from Honeycomb Asset Management, which invested in SpaceX. Faber added that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may back it, and Musk is talking to him about the possibility of contributing shares immediately or prior to closing of the merger.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has only led the company for a few months, after taking over the helm from Dorseylast November. Until now, there hadn’t been much discussion about whether Musk’s takeover of the company would lead to a leadership shakeup. Last month,Reutersreported Musk had lined up a new CEO for Twitter, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Agrawal told employees during a company-wide town hall meeting last month that the future of Twitter is uncertain under Musk, according toa separate Reuters report.
“Once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go,” Agrawal reportedly said when asked whether the company may allow former U.S. President Donald Trump to return to the platform when Musk takes over. Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter last year.