Elon Musk says he could take Twitter public again in as soon as 3 years: WSJ
- Elon Musk told investors he could take Twitter public in three years, per the Wall Street Journal.
- He may be trying to convince investors that he would move quickly to raise Twitter's profitability.
Elon Musk, who is in the midst of taking Twitter private, has already begun telling investors that they could probably cash out through a public offering for the company in as little as three years, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday.
He was talking to private-equity investors as he tried to raise funds to finance his $44 billion buyout of the social media platform, the WSJ reported, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the situation. Musk has until October to complete his buyout, Insider reported.
Private-equity investors take public companies under distress private, turn them around, and then list them on public markets again. Twitter is tight on cash reserves, and last year it lost $221 million, Insider previously reported.
The world's richest man didn't share much in private conversations with investors on how he would make Twitter profitable, Insider reported last week.
However, the lack of plans didn't deter investors, as Musk owns several valuable assets that could be useful when he takes up loans for the deal, per the report.
Musk's suggestion that he would take Twitter public again in the next few years — by quickly improving its bottom line — could help sway investors to participate in his fundraising efforts, the WSJ wrote.
But the Tesla founder and CEO's three-year timeline may be overly ambitious. Private equity investors typically invest in companies for about three to five years, private bank Julius Baer noted in a report.
And, according to a previous Insider report, musk has publicly admitted that he's not good with deadlines.
"Well, I mean, punctuality is not my strong suit," he said, in a 2018 "60 Minutes" interview, in response to a question about missing Tesla production targets.
Musk did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comments.