Elon Musk borrowed a whopping $1 billion from SpaceX back in October — the same month he purchased the social media platform then known as Twitter in a $44 billion deal, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
SpaceX — the space exploration company where Musk serves as the CEO — approved the ten-figure loan, which was backed by some of its chief executive’s stock, The Journal found.
He drew the entire sum down in October.
Though the exact date he borrowed the $1 billion is unclear, the 52-year-old tech magnate completed his purchase of then-Twitter on Oct. 27 — six months after he initiated the acquisition of the social media site.
Musk, who also serves as the CEO of Tesla, wasted no time in paying back the sum.
By November, he had returned the $1 billion with interest to SpaceX, according to the filings obtained by The Journal.
The documents didn’t reveal why Musk took on the debt, though it wasn’t the first time he used his stake in his own company as collateral for a loan.
Musk has had arrangements with banks to borrow against his shares of Tesla for years, The Journal reported.
At Tesla, Musk holds more than 411 million shares, or a 12.95% stake, making him the electric vehicle company’s largest shareholder.
According to mobile banking platform MoneyLion, lenders will loan up to 50% of a borrower’s portfolio value at any given time, and will hold onto that stock as collateral.
However, because SpaceX remains a privately-held company, the Hawthorne, Calif.-based spacecraft and satellite manufacturer — which was valued at $150 billion last month — served as Musk’s lender.
Musk reportedly owns 42% of SpaceX and 79% of its voting power, meaning he very well has the power to use the company as his personal money lender.
The Post has sought comment from SpaceX and X, formerly known as Twitter.
X’s media line auto-responded with: “We’ll get back to you soon.”
SpaceX has struggled to turn a profit in recent years, with Musk warning back in 2021 that the company faces “genuine risk of bankruptcy” if it didn’t meet production goals for its Raptor engines, which are used to send its Starship rocket into orbit.
One year later, at the time Musk borrowed $1 billion from SpaceX, the company had $4.7 billion in cash and securities on hand, the documents showed, according to The Journal.
The loan represented 11% of the $9 billion in equity the company reported selling since 2009, the filings showed.
SpaceX, which notoriously doesn’t reveal its financials, has managed to stay private thanks to large infusions of capital.
Last year, the company took in some $2 billion from issuing stock — up from $1.5 billion in 2021, according to The Journal.
In November — one month after Musk took out the loan — he sold almost $4 billion worth of Tesla stock, Securities and Exchange Commission filings showed.
The transaction came months after Musk sold off a massive $8.5 billion worth of shares in April and another $6.9 billion work of stock in August, which were both reportedly in preparation for his acquisition of Twitter.
Yet another multibillion-dollar sale of Tesla stock in December meant Musk sold an eye-watering $39 billion of the automaker’s shares in just one year.
Source
