Musk's X in talks to raise money at $44 billion valuation, Bloomberg News reports

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's X social media platform is in talks to raise money from investors at a $44 billion valuation, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Musk bought X, formerly Twitter, for the same price in 2022, but some investors including Fidelity Investments have sharply written down the value of their stake as the platform struggled to retain advertisers after the takeover.

X did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The reported talks come as valuations of Musk's other companies soared after the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race.

Tesla shares have surged more than 40% since Trump's victory, while SpaceX was valued at $350 billion in December. Musk's AI startup, xAI, is also in talks to raise $10 billion at a $75 billion valuation, up from $40 billion, according to reports.

Musk's close ties with Trump and return of some advertisers to X have lifted expectations of better finances at the platform. That has helped banks offload the debt they issued to support Musk's Twitter buyout, a source told Reuters earlier this month.

Banks, led by Morgan Stanley, sold another chunky portion of loans that formed the $13 billion debt supporting Musk's acquisition, as the deal found broad interest from large fund managers attracted by the prospect of improving revenue of X.

Talks for the new X financing round were still on and the details could change, the Bloomberg News report said, adding that this would be the first known investment round for the social media company since Musk took it private.
 

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