Scott Olson
Notorious activist investor Carl Icahn is said to have amassed a stake of over $500 million on social media Twitter (New York stock market :TWTR) which paid off on Tuesday when Elon Musk decided he would go all the way with his $44 billion Buy Twitter.
Twitter shares jumped 22% on Tuesday at the news that the billionaire CEO of Tesla wanted to complete his purchase of Twitter (TWTR) on its initial contract of $54.20/share. Icahn paid in the middle of $30 for his action, which means a profit for his Icahn Enterprise LP (NASDAQ:IEP) could exceed $250 million, according to a WSJ report, who quoted familiar people.
Other notable hedge funds, including DE Shaw and Dan Loeb’s Third Point, have also taken stakes in Twitter (TWTR) over the past few months and are expected to make handsome gains, the WSJ reported.
Twitter Stock (TWTR) was discontinued at noon on Wednesday for news amid reports that Musk sent the company a letter saying he wanted to conditionally complete his agreed buyout of $54.20/share deal at the pre-agreed price.
Icahn is said to have created the Twitter (TWTR) investment because he thought Musk wouldn’t have a lawsuit he would likely lose and he thought the social media company had an intrinsic value of around $30, according to the WSJ.
Musk and Twitter later confirmed the offer, which was conditional on Twitter suspending its litigation forcing Musk to complete the deal, and receiving debt financing.
“Buying Twitter is a accelerator to create X, the app everything,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday night — referencing his earlier idea to create something from a Twitter rival using his Internet domain X.com currently inactive.