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From Rocket Explosions to Twitter Turmoil: A Comprehensive Timeline of Elon Musk’s Failures

Elon Musk might be the richest person in the world, but that doesn’t mean every decision he makes is flawless. Case in point: according to recent reports, his decision to buy Twitter has become one of the worst merger financing deals for banks since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In October 2022, seven banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, lent Musk billions to take Twitter private. Typically, banks sell takeover loans to investors to recoup their money and earn fees. However, due to X’s poor financial performance, the banks have been unable to offload the debt without incurring hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, leaving the loans stuck on their balance sheets.

The value of these loans plummeted soon after Musk’s $44 billion acquisition. A new analysis shows that Twitter’s loans have remained unsold longer than any similar deal since the financial crisis. Banks seldom have problems selling or writing off most of their unsold debt within a year, but this hasn’t been the case with X.

Insiders say the banks agreed to finance the deal despite recognizing it as overpriced, largely because of the allure of working with the world’s richest man. Musk and other investors contributed about $30 billion, providing something of a financial safety net for the banks. However, nearly two years after the acquisition, X continues to struggle, with the company’s value dropping by more than half, and while platform usage has increased, there is no sign of a significant recovery in ad revenue.

Debt burdens bank profits, and holding onto high-risk loans invites regulatory scrutiny. These suspended loans have also led to cuts in compensation for investment bankers, with some banks discussing restructuring the deal to ease the financial strain, though no plan has been implemented.

Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is just the latest in a series of high-stakes moves that have backfired, demonstrating that even the wealthiest and most ambitious entrepreneurs are not immune to failure. While his ventures have pushed the boundaries of technology and industry, they have also faced significant setbacks and near-catastrophic challenges. To fully understand the scope of Musk’s journey, it’s essential to explore the timeline of his notable failures, each of which has shaped his path to becoming one of the most influential figures in the world today.

1995: Musk receives a job rejection from Netscape

Just before the internet started to take off, Elon applied for a job at Netscape, the pioneering web browser company. Despite his impressive academic background, he didn’t make it past the interview stage. The reason for the rejection is unclear, but it’s likely that his lack of experience in the tech industry was a contributing factor.