Elon Musk told investors he'd probably double or triple their money if they backed his Twitter buyout, report says

• Elon Musk told investors he'd probably double or triple their money if they backed his Twitter deal, The NYT reported.
• He even told them they could see a return of five to ten times if all went well, a source told the newspaper.

Elon Musk told investors he was highly confident he'd double or triple their money if they backed his $44 billion buyout of Twitter, The New York Times reported.

In meetings with investors, Musk went as far as saying they could see returns of five to ten times their investments if all went well, The Times reported, citing a person who heard Musk's pitch.

Before making his formal offer to buy Twitter, Musk said he'd secured $46.5 billion in financing for the deal. A regulatory filing published Thursday showed Musk had brought in a raft of new backers who together added $7.1 billion financing to his bid.

Musk also told investors he could double Twitter's user base to more than 500 million by 2025, four sources briefed on Musk's investor pitches told The Times. According to two of those sources, Musk said he could more than double Twitter's revenue in the same timeframe, and bring in tens of millions of paid subscribers.

Musk mused in a now-deleted tweet that Twitter could launch a subscription service, meaning people could get blue "verified" check marks and not have to see advertisements on the platform.

Musk said in a tweet Tuesday that Twitter could charge government and commercial users a "slight cost" to use the service. He added that Twitter would always be free for "casual users."

The Times reported that Musk told investors he would serve for a time as CEO of Twitter. Sources also told CNBC Musk is expected to step in as interim CEO after the closing of the deal, which is awaiting regulatory approval.