Elon Musk buying Twitter at agreed upon $44 bn quite 'unlikely', investors think

The stock market took the view for the first time on Tuesday that it was unlikely that Elon Musk will acquire Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) for $44 billion, as he originally agreed.

The implied probability of the deal closing at that price fell below 50% when Twitter shares hit $46.75, based on the $54.20 deal price and Twitter's shares having closed at $39.31 on April 1, the last trading day before Musk revealed he had amassed a stake in the social media company.

Twitter shares fell as much as 3% to touch a low of $46.50 in afternoon trading.

Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/Pool via REUTERS

Musk, the world's richest person and also the chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), on April 25 clinched a deal to buy the social media platform. read more Twitter said at the time that Musk secured $25.5 billion of debt and margin loan financing and was providing a $21 billion equity commitment.

Musk, who is worth $268 billion according to Forbes, had said he was not primarily concerned with the economics of Twitter.

"Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don't care about the economics at all," he said in a recent public talk.