The Elon-Twitter drama

Hi! This is Dan DeFrancesco checking in from New York. For those who observed the high holy day yesterday, here’s hoping your fast went smoothly.

Lots on tap today, from oil cuts to CEOs preparing for a potential recession to the guy who just caught a very expensive souvenir. 

But first, let’s chat about a certain tech executive and his plans to buy a certain social media website. 

By the way, our colleagues over on the media team are gathering nominations for an inaugural list of athletes who have built successful careers as creators. To learn more about the list, and submit your own pick, head over here. 

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1. The Elon-Twitter saga rolls on.

If you haven’t been following along, Elon Musk told Twitter on Monday he’d agree to purchase the company for $54.20 per share, the price the two sides had initially agreed upon back in April before Musk famously tried backing out. 

There is still a lot to be sorted out — the Delaware judge presiding over the case said Wednesday neither party had officially filed anything to prevent a trial between the two sides from proceeding — though Twitter has agreed to delay a deposition by Musk scheduled for today, according to multiple reports. 

However, it seems a lot of the parties involved in this fiasco are coming out worse for wear if the deal ends up going through. 

Seven banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, are on the hook for $12.5 billion to help finance the deal, a process that suddenly seems a lot more daunting considering current market conditions. 

Meanwhile, Twitter employees must face the reality of having an owner who spent the better part of four months trashing their company, leaving them frustrated and questioning what type of changes might be implemented once the dust settles.   

And then, of course, there is Musk himself, who will have to sell more shares of Tesla in order to fund his portion of the deal, a move that one analyst said was akin to “giving away caviar to buy a $2 slice of pizza.”

But, this is Wall Street, and one person’s agony is another’s success. And while many are bemoaning the knock-on effects of the deal, there are those who stand to benefit, including billionaire Carl Icahn, a Florida hedge fund, and, perhaps least surprising of all, the lawyers involved. 

In other news:

2. OPEC+ agreed to cut its daily production by 2 million barrels in an attempt to increase oil prices, which had slid in recent months following a spike over the summer. The move by the group, which is co-led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, comes despite US and European leaders pushing for more oil production to lower gas prices and limit Russian revenue.

3. Lawyers are set to make a boatload in fees from Elon Musk’s will-he-won’t-he Twitter deal. One law professor estimates the cost could be as high as $100 million for Musk alone, further cementing the belief that lawyers always come out on top no matter what.

4. The vast majority of CEOs are ready for a recession and plan to cut ESG spending and conduct layoffs, according to a new survey from KPMG. Only a third of respondents, which included chief executives from 400 American companies, believe a potential recession will be “mild and short.”

5. English Premier League team Everton is reportedly receiving interest from a SPAC co-led by George Soros’ nephew, according to Bloomberg. The beautiful game has garnered increased interest from investors in recents years, with US billionaire Todd Boehly and PE giant Clearlake Capital purchasing fellow EPL club Chelsea earlier this year.

6. An unlikely new entrant into the world of venture investing has emerged: public utilities. A group of natural-gas utilities has backed a $61 million fund that is focused on disruption within their own industry. According to one investor, the move is more about understanding the latest developments in green technology than nabbing eye-popping returns (but I’m sure that doesn’t hurt).

7. Remote work might not mean a rubbish raise during your annual review. Four HR experts share their tips for how you can make sure your contributions are recognized even if they were done in sweatpants.   

8. The fan who caught Aaron Judge’s 62nd home-run ball works in finance. Cory Youmans, who is a vice president at a Dallas branch of money manager Fisher Investments, is sitting on a potential gold mine, with one prospective buyer having previously valued the ball at $2 million. Watch the moment he caught it here.

9. Insider’s Adam Rogers binge-listened to tech podcasts for a week. Adam shared six lessons from the 40 hours he spent listening to Silicon Valley’s top minds.

10. The annual list of the World’s 50 Best Bars was released, and New York City nabbed two spots in the top 15. In what I’m sure will be a shock to young finance bros, no Murray Hill watering holes made the list.

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Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.