Citadel's Ken Griffin Among Elon Musk's Financial Backers In $44B Twitter Buyout: Report

Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of Citadel Securities, reportedly committed millions to Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk's buyout of Twitter Inc TWTR, but it remained undisclosed.

What Happened: Griffin pledged approximately $20 million for Musk's take-private deal, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Although Musk has not publicly disclosed Griffin's involvement, the hedge fund manager was reportedly among a handful of significant people subpoenaed by Twitter in August as it wrangled courts to get the Tesla CEO to complete his proposed takeover. He was described by the social media firm as an “actual or potential” co-investor.

See Also: Elon Musk Sees Long-Term Potential In Twitter Despite 'Obviously Overpaying' For It

Why It Matters: Musk and Twitter have agreed on an Oct. 28 deadline to finalize the $44 billion deal, although the billionaire's about-turn earlier this month could pose a headache for banks financing the buyout.

Musk has reportedly raised about $15 billion in cash from reducing his stake in Tesla since launching his bid for Twitter in April and he may need to cut his stake further depending on the external financing he manages to secure.

Griffin's involvement was reported earlier by the Washington Post, which also noted that former backers such as Peter Thiel and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman had now pulled out from financing the deal.

Price Action: Twitter shares ended 1.1% higher at $52.44 on Thursday, before ticking down 0.4% in after-hours trading, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

See Also: How To Buy Twitter (TWTR) Shares

Photo courtesy: Citadel