Elon Musk's team seeks to raise new funding for Twitter

The social media platform has seen advertisers flee amid worries about the billionaire's approach to policing tweets

Elon Musk sold another $3.6 billion worth of shares in Tesla earlier this week, making it nearly $40 billion worth of shares in the electric-vehicle company sold this year. AFP

Elon Musk’s team has reached out to investors to raise new funds for his struggling social media platform Twitter, one of the investors said.

Ross Gerber, president and chief executive at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, told Reuters that he was contacted by a Musk representative about offering more shares at the same price, $54.20, that Mr Musk paid to take the company private in October.

Jared Birchall, the managing director of Elon Musk's family office, reached out to potential investors this week, news platform Semafor reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the fundraising effort.

Twitter and Mr Musk did not respond to requests for comments.

Twitter has seen advertisers flee amid worries about Mr Musk's approach to policing tweets, hitting revenues and its ability to pay interest on the $13 billion debt that he took on to buy the social media company.

Mr Musk sold another $3.6 billion worth of shares in Tesla earlier this week, making it nearly $40 billion worth of shares in the electric-vehicle company sold this year.

Tesla shares on Friday posted their worst weekly loss since March 2020, with investors increasingly concerned about Mr Musk being distracted by Twitter and the slowing global economy.