The Associated Press story on today’s announcement of Musk’s purchase of Twitter for $44 billion says this:

“The deal was cemented roughly two weeks after the billionaire first revealed a 9% stake in the platform. Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal.”

I’ve seen similar statements in reports of other transactions, including some of Trump’s. There’s some kind of principle or strategy here that I don’t understand, being a person whose transactions involve far fewer zeroes. Why would someone who can afford to make a big purchase outright choose instead to get financing?

Topics: social media, Twitter, financing, Elon Musk, corporate takeover, megapurchases