According to sources familiar with the case, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that Biden Administration officials are debating whether the United States should submit any of Elon Musk’s endeavors to a national assessment, including the sale of Twitter Inc. and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network.
The CEO of SpaceX recently announced plans to stop Russia’s conflict in Ukraine on Twitter. He also stated that SpaceX could not continue to finance its Starlink internet service in Ukraine. Later, he changed his mind and declared that he would still pay for the service.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, the conversations to examine Musk’s businesses are still in the early stages. Officials in the U.S. government are also considering what mechanisms if any, would enable the federal government to assess Musk’s businesses.
According to the article, one way to assess Musk’s business activities is through the legislation controlling the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reports to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
According to Bloomberg, the existence of foreign investors in Musk’s consortium is one aspect of his $44 billion (Rs. 3,64,500 crore) Twitter bid that might prompt a CFIUS examination.
Binance, a cryptocurrency launched in Shanghai, and Saudi Arabian businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal are included in the group.
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A US Treasury Department spokeswoman claimed that CFIUS doesn’t publicly comment on deals it may or may not be looking into.
Reuters reached out to Twitter and SpaceX for comment, but neither company responded immediately.
In May, Musk announced he would cancel the purchase of Twitter, claiming the firm had overstated the number of spam and bot accounts on the social media site. This sparked a string of legal disputes between the two sides.
Musk changed his mind earlier this month and declared he would carry out the agreement under its original provisions.
