Elon Musk’s Renewed Twitter Bid Puts Pressure on Wall St. Banks Backing Him

Elon Musk’s planned acquisition of Twitter looked like the deal of the year back in April. Investment banks and Silicon Valley bigwigs clamored to be a part of it. Moved by his lofty promises and past successes, they collectively promised billions to Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man.

Then Mr. Musk tore it all up. He announced in July that he no longer wanted to go through with his bid, and he publicly thrashed the company he had asked for help in buying.

But, on Monday night, Mr. Musk said that he had changed his mind once again and that he still wanted to buy Twitter, a company under more duress than it was in the spring and operating in an economy that looks much shakier.

Now the $44 billion deal — the same amount that Mr. Musk offered in April — could be significantly more costly for lenders like Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Barclays that committed to put big money into the deal before inflation, rising interest rates, economic uncertainty created by the war in Ukraine and Mr. Musk’s bombastic behavior.

“I’m sure the banks aren’t as hot to do this in October at these terms as they were in April at these terms,” said Michael Maimone, a partner at the law firm Barnes & Thornburg who focuses on mergers and acquisitions.

After Mr. Musk informed Twitter of his new intent to follow through on the deal, the two sides began to hash out the details, with negotiations spilling into Wednesday, said a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the confidential talks.