November 8, 2024

Elon Musk says he’s ‘open to the idea’ of buying Silicon Valley Bank, but a Tesla investor tells him ‘no thanks’

Silicon Valley Bank #SiliconValleyBank

Elon Musk. Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images © Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images Elon Musk. Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

  • Elon Musk tweeted late Friday he was “open to the idea” of buying the failed Silicon Valley Bank.
  • A Tesla investor appeared to disapprove of the billionaire’s idea, telling him “no thanks.”
  • Musk sold about $23 billion of Tesla stock last year to help finance his Twitter takeover. 
  • Elon Musk said late Friday he was “open to the idea” of buying Silicon Valley Bank after its collapse, but the idea had a frosty reception from at least one Tesla investor.

    “I think Twitter should buy SVB and become a digital bank,” tweeted Min-Liang Tan, cofounder and CEO of Razer, a company that sells gaming computers.

    Musk said in a short response “I’m open to the idea,” without giving further context.

     

    One Twitter user backed Musk’s idea, saying “what an opportunity,” but another called Sanjay responded: “And sell another $20 billion worth of $Tesla stock. No thanks!”

    Sanjay’s Twitter profile describes him as a “Tesla customer and investor, bull and Elon fan.” Insider couldn’t verify whether the user was a shareholder or the size of his holding. 

    Musk made a series of Tesla stock sales last year to help finance his Twitter acquisition, helping to depress the share price. The CEO sold stock worth $8.5 billion in April, $6.9 billion in August, $3.95 billion in November, and $3.6 billion in December, totaling almost $23 billion.

    Silicon Valley Bank was shut down on Friday by US regulators following a run on deposits, Insider’s Sindhu Sundar explained. Startup founders moved to withdraw funds on Thursday, rattled by the bank’s falling stock price that followed a capital raising announced on Wednesday night. 

    The bank is now being handled by receivers, potentially delaying access to deposits for a considerable period of time. Some hope that a buyer will come forward this weekend to avoid such a scenario.

    Musk and Sanjay didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours. 

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