Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Elon Musk expressed his openness to the idea of buying the bank.
However, one Tesla investor, identified as Sanjay, criticized the idea, suggesting that it would require Musk to sell another $20 billion worth of Tesla stock. The CEO had previously sold almost $23 billion worth of Tesla stock last year to help finance his Twitter acquisition.
In response to Musk’s tweet, Min-Liang Tan, the CEO of Razer, proposed that Twitter should buy SVB and become a digital bank. While one Twitter user supported Musk’s idea, Sanjay expressed his opposition. It remains unclear whether Sanjay is a shareholder and the size of his holding.
“I think Twitter should buy SVB and become a digital bank,” tweeted Min-Liang Tan.
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!”
On Friday, US regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank after a run on deposits by startup founders who were spooked by the bank’s falling stock price following a capital raising announcement.
The bank is now being handled by receivers, potentially delaying access to deposits for some time. There is hope that a buyer will emerge over the weekend to prevent such a scenario.
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.
Neither Musk nor Sanjay responded to Insider’s requests for comment outside normal working hours.