US govt planning to put some of Elon Musk's ventures under national security review
Musk Tesla
Biden administration officials have been contemplating subjecting some of Elon Musk's ventures to national review, including the deal for Twitter Inc and SpaceX's Starlink satellite network, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the publication also reported that Musk has only until October 28 to work out the details of the proposed Twitter deal or he faces a trial in November. Advisers to both the parties are hard at work trying to get the deal done by month-end.
The discussions to review Musk's ventures are at an early stage, sources told Bloomberg. Officials are currently trying to understand what tools can be used by the federal government to review Musk's ventures.
The report also cited a way in which that might become a possibility. One way is through the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The committee comes under the US Department of Treasury. The presence of foreign investors in Musk's consortium is likely to trigger a CFIUS review, Bloomberg reported.
Also Read |Elon Musk makes U-turn, says funding would continue for Starlink in Ukraine
The group includes Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Binance, which was founded in Shanghai. Neither party has commented on the matter as a spokesperson for the US Treasury Department said CFIUS does not publicly comment on transactions that it may or may not be reviewing. Twitter and SpaceX also haven't said anything on the matter.
Musk had tried to back off from the $44 billion deal to buy Twitteralleging the company understated the number of bot and spam accounts on the social media platform. A series of lawsuits started between the two parties and Musk finally agreed to buy Twitter a few weeks back.
Musk has been tied to several controversies of late. First, he tried to offer peace resolutions for the China-Taiwan and Russia-Ukraine conflicts. That did not land well with any of the concerned parties and he was told to back off.
Last week, Musk talked about stopping Starlink internet services in Ukraine citing financial concerns and that he cannot keep funding it from his own pocket. Pentagon was reportedly ready to enter the fray and fund the services, but no official word was ever said.
Later, Musk said that he will continue funding the services himself.
(With inputs from agencies)
