Binance, Sequoia still backing Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter

Binance and tech investor Sequoia Capital are reportedly still backing Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover bid of social media platform Twitter.

Sequoia Capital already committed $800 million to the deal back in April before Musk subsequently got cold feet. According to an unnamed source familiar with the matter, the firm will keep that capital allocation to support the deal now that the deal is reportedly back this month.

Binance has also indicated that it will carry on with its contribution of $500 million, with a representative telling Cointelegraph that “we’re still committed and nothing new to share at this moment” as they referred to Changpeng ”CZ” Zhao’s comments via Twitter from May:

“We hope to be able to play a role in bringing social media and Web3 together and broadening the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology.”

At the start of October, it was reported that Musk had pulled another abrupt U-turn by filing a notice with the Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 3 indicating that he is ready to proceed with the “closing of the transaction contemplated by the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement.”

If the deal goes through, the purchase will be for the initially agreed upon $54.20 per share for a total of $44 billion.

Sequoia Capital has a history of backing Musk’s endeavors, as it was an early-stage investor in what eventually became PayPal, the payments platform he co-founded that was sold for $1.5 billion in 2002. The firm also led a $675 million funding round for Musk’s Boring Company in April.

Binance has had a keen eye on big mainstream deals this year, previously placing a $200 million strategic investment into financial news outlet Forbes, intending to improve consumer understanding of crypto and blockchain.

Aside from the $500 million to support Musk’s Twitter takeover, Bloomberg reported last week that Binance has splurged $325 million on 67 projects this year. CZ has also stated the firm may spend more than $1 billion this year in commercial investments.