Joe Biden Says Foreign Investors In Elon Musk's Twitter 'Are Worthy Of Being Looked At'
Nov. 10 2022, Published 4:03 p.m. ET
Too close for comfort?
Just weeks after billionaire Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter, it seems President Joe Biden has some questions about the international investors that seemingly aided the Tesla mogul’s recent $44 billion purchase.
In a post-election press conference on Wednesday, November 9, the Commander-in-Chief dubbed Musk’s international business relations as “worthy of being looked at” when asked whether the famously eccentric billionaire poses a national security risk.
“I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at,” Biden explained. “Whether he is doing anything inappropriate — I’m suggesting that — I’m suggesting that it’s worth being looked at.”
The president did not offer any more details on how a theoretical probe would play out.
Yet it seems 46 isn’t the only politician raising questions surrounding Twitter’s investors — the second largest of whom is Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Company, who are existing shareholders in the social platform, according to Politico. Musk is Twitter’s largest investor, per Forbes.
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Late last month, Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy took to Musk’s newly-acquired social platform, calling for an investigation into Saudi Arabia’s notable investment in the SpaceX CEO’s website.
“Today I am requesting the Committee on Foreign Investment — which reviews acquisitions of U.S. businesses by foreign buyers — to conduct an investigation into the national security implications of Saudi Arabia's purchase of Twitter,” the politician wrote in a post shared with his 1.1 million followers, though it was Musk, rather than the Middle Eastern nation, who purchased the platform.
“We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting U.S. politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform,” he continued, stating that “there is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review.”
Alaweed and Kingdom Holding Company, a business the royal owns 95 percent of, per SEC documents, possess a combined 4 percent of Twitter, according to the business publication.