In April, Twitter agreed to a mega $44 billion deal from the billionaire.
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said there are “unresolved matters” with regards to his acquisition of social media giant Twitter, in remarks made at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday.
“There is the question of, will the debt portion of the round come together and then will the shareholders vote in favour,” Musk said during a virtual speech to attendees at the second forum in Doha.
Introduced as the one of the “world’s biggest capitalist”, Musk was among hundreds of participants at QEF, which was inaugurated by Qatar’s Sheikh Amir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
In April, Twitter agreed to a mega $44 billion offer from the billionaire, leading to a 6% spike in its shares.
Then in June, Musk threatened to ditch the buyout deal over Twitter’s refusal to provide him with information over spam and bot accounts, which he had requested in May. This was followed by a 4% drop in shares, with total shares down by 23% in May alone.
Bloomberg reported last month that Musk had received equity commitment letters from various entities, including Qatar Holding, to fund his takeover of the social media platform.
Commenting on a possible US recession, Musk said it “is inevitable at some point.”
“As to whether there is a recession in the near-term, that is more likely than not,” he added.
In response to a question over Tesla’s job cuts, Musk said that the company is reducing up to 10% of its staff over the next three months, while increasing hourly workforce.
2022 QEF
This year’s edition of the QEF kicked off in Doha on Monday, bringing together high-profile figures under the theme “Equalising the Global Recovery”.
The event was inaugurated on Tuesday by Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. In his inaugural speech, the amir called for the need to address global economic challenges, noting that human values and peacekeeping were primary to dealing with issues in today’s world.
“Supporting the economy, investment and innovation in parallel with consolidating shared human values and peacekeeping is the way to build the necessary capacities in order to transcend crises and overcome challenges,” said Sheikh Tamim.
Various heads of states, more than 500 business leaders, and more than 75 keynote speakers are scheduled to discuss the latest economic trends, challenges, as well as post-pandemic recovery.
Other key topics to be put under the spotlight is the elimination of world poverty, reduction of inflation, the prospects of globalisation, as well as energy transformation and reduction of carbon emissions.
As Qatar gears to host the highly-anticipated 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the first to take place in the Middle East, the major sporting event is also a main topic and a special area of focus for this year’s QEF.
“Qatar and the entire region are heading for a significant historical event of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the first time in our region. We are confident that the wide participation of the countries of the world,” said Sheikh Tamim.
The QEF is also seen to be an important platform to discuss Doha’s economic growth strategies under the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2018 – 2022, aimed at leading a diversified and competitive, knowledge-based economy.