JPMorgan’s Dimon Backs Musk’s Twitter Bid—And Calls For Removal Of Bots

Topline

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon offered his support for the world’s wealthiest man Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover in an interview published Tuesday, a surprise vote of confidence given the history of animosity between the billionaires.

Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover received a notable backer in Jamie Dimon.

Key Facts

“I hope Musk cleans up Twitter,” Dimon told CNBC, referring to Musk’s vow to remove fake and spam accounts from the social media site, and Dimon called for the Tesla CEO to “eliminate…robots” on Twitter.

It’s an unusually friendly stance from Dimon toward Musk, considering the two are not so secret foes, with JPMorgan suing Tesla for $162 million last November over a stock contract dispute.

Dimon also took a dig at the rival banks, including Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, financing Musk’s $44 billion Twitter acquisition and potentially taking a massive loss, telling CNBC, “They’re big boys, they can deal with it.”

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Musk to be worth $220 billion, about $75 billion more than anybody else, while Dimon’s fortune is a relatively meager $1.4 billion.

Key Background

Twitter accepted Musk’s hostile takeover bid in April, but Musk tried to back out three months later, claiming the company lied about the numbers of fake and spam accounts on the platform. A whistleblower complaint from Twitter’s former head of security Peiter Zatko appeared to bolster Musk’s argument when Zatko alleged the company knowingly undercounted the number of bots to investors, but Musk told the company last week he intends to move forward with his purchase under the original terms.

Crucial Quote

High inflation, looming interest rate hikes and instability caused by the war in Ukraine are “likely to put the U.S. in some kind of recession six to nine months from now,” Dimon said Monday.

Tangent

A Twitter investor sued Musk on Monday for allegedly besmirching the company in order to secure a lower price for his takeover.