Banks That Financed Elon Musk's Acquisition of Twitter Are Absolutely Screwed

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now known as X, has resulted in significant financial distress for the banks that financed the deal, marking it as one of the worst merger-finance situations since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The banks, including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Barclays, collectively lent Musk $13 billion, but have struggled to sell the debt due to Twitter's poor financial performance. The loans have remained unsold for an unprecedented duration, with Twitter's value plummeting from $44 billion to approximately $12.5 billion under Musk's leadership. This decline is attributed to a combination of Musk's controversial management style and a mass exodus of advertisers, which has severely impacted revenue. The banks are now facing challenges in their lending capabilities for other mergers, and some have marked down the loans by hundreds of millions of dollars. The fallout from this deal has also affected the banks' standings in the financial sector, with major players like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs gaining ground. Additionally, top investment bankers at Barclays have experienced significant pay cuts as a direct consequence of the deal's failure.

- Musk's acquisition of Twitter has led to severe financial issues for the banks involved.

- The loans for the acquisition have remained unsold longer than any similar deals since the 2008-2009 crisis.

- Twitter's value has dropped from $44 billion to around $12.5 billion under Musk's management.

- The banks are struggling to lend for other mergers due to the impact of this deal.

- Major banks have lost their top positions in the financial sector as a result of the failed acquisition.