Nigerian billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu and founder of BUA Group says Africa must remove its reliance on imports and add value to locally-produced food as much as possible.



Nigerian billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate, has embarked on an ambitious 20,000-hectare large-scale sugar plantation featuring other ancillary production facilities such as a sugar mill, sugar refinery, and ethanol and power plant in Africa’s biggest and most populous economy.



The Group currently has two “ultra-modern and automated mega sugar refineries” in Lagos and Port Harcourt in the country with a total combined installed refining capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes, but say the new initiatives, for which it has secured more land in both Kogi State and Kwara State to establish sugar plantations in the future, will add significantly to the development of Nigeria’s local sugar industry.



“I am passionate about looking inwards and seeing what we can do as Africans,” says Rabiu in a recent interview with FORBES AFRICA.



“We realized that a large amount of money was being spent on importing raw sugar and we asked ourselves ‘why can’t we solve this problem and produce locally’?” adds the entrepreneur with a real time net worth of $5.7 billion according to Forbes.



Russia’s war on Ukraine has sparked a global food crisis and Nigeria, Africa’s most populous economy, traditionally reliant on food imports, is facing the brunt of this.



In a recent report published by the United Nations World Food Program, Nigeria, along with Ethiopia and South Sudan, are amongst the countries with the direst conditions. The report asserts that 19.5 million Nigerians are “facing high levels of acute food insecurity”.



Furthermore, when it comes to children under the age of five years, the report estimates that about 1.7 million will be prone to acute malnutrition by August this year, signifying a 34% rise from 2021 figures.



Reflecting on these numbers, Rabiu believes that there has to be a fundamental shift in Africa’s approach to food production.



“Eighty percent of the food we consume in Africa is imported so when you have a situation like the Russia-Ukraine war which has had a knock-on effect on food imports, where last year alone we imported over 55 million tonnes of wheat, the current crisis we are facing is bound to happen,” says Rabiu.



His concerns are shared by Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) who in May this year approved a $1.5 billion facility to help over 20 million African farmers to produce 38 million tonnes of food.



“We are facing a situation where food prices are skyrocketing by the day. Wheat has gone up from $250 to about $600 per tonne; this accounts for a 60% increase in the past year,” says Rabiu.



The price hikes in importing wheat means a further increase in prices to consumers who are already struggling to make ends meet. According to Rabiu, the only way to avoid this situation in the future is to remove our reliance on imports and add value to locally produced food as much as possible.



“We need a concerted effort to increase our homegrown production,” says Rabiu.



Adesina and the AfDB are hoping that by making the credit facility available, African farmers can do exactly what Rabiu is suggesting and begin to increase the supply of food to curb impending disaster.

Abdulsamad Rabiu; image supplied

‘Concerted Effort To Increase Homegrown Production’: Nigerian Billionaire On Plans to Boost Local Sugar Industry

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Elon Musk sold roughly $6.9 billion worth of Tesla stock over the past week, according to new Securities and Exchange Commission filings, in a surprise offload that comes more than three months after the world’s richest man&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1519850299757846530?s=20&amp;t=5J_GRFHeqCKz9sNlbTRDjQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;there were &#8220;no further TSLA sales planned.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



Musk sold more than 7.9 million shares in dozens of transactions between Friday and Tuesday, at an average price of $875 per share, according to the filings.



The billionaire will owe an estimated $1.65 billion in federal capital gains taxes from the sale, leaving about $5.25 billion in take-home pay.



It&#8217;s not clear why Musk chose to sell—he did not immediately respond to a request for comment from&nbsp;Forbes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h2>



More than $31 billion. That&#8217;s how much Tesla stock Musk has liquidated in a series of sales starting in November.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Unlike earlier transactions, Musk&#8217;s sales this week were unexpected. The Tesla CEO hinted about his late 2021 sales in a November tweet, and he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/04/29/elon-musk-sells-more-tesla-stock-bringing-total-sales-to-more-than-8-billion-this-week/?sh=6523c61530ed">raised around $8.5 billion</a>&nbsp;in pretax funds in a series of April sales after signing a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. The $8.5 billion was expected to go toward the purchase, but Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/07/08/elon-musk-terminating-deal-to-buy-twitter-platform-plans-legal-action/?sh=1dfce8712e21">reneged on the deal</a>&nbsp;last month over purported concerns about the number of bots and spam accounts that populate the platform. Twitter quickly responded by filing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/07/12/twitter-sues-elon-musk-for-trying-to-cancel-acquisition-deal/?sh=3b8d40183d38">a lawsuit against Musk</a>&nbsp;in Delaware Chancery Court in an attempt to force the deal to go through. A trial is set to begin on October 17 if the two sides don&#8217;t reach a settlement.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



We&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=152b18687999">estimate Musk</a>&nbsp;to be worth $255.1 billion, making him the wealthiest person on Earth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/04/29/elon-musk-sells-more-tesla-stock-bringing-total-sales-to-more-than-8-billion-this-week/?sh=6523c61530ed">Elon Musk Sells More Tesla Stock—Bringing Total Sales To More Than $8 Billion This Week</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/07/08/elon-musk-terminating-deal-to-buy-twitter-platform-plans-legal-action/?sh=1dfce8712e21">Elon Musk ‘Terminating’ Deal To Buy Twitter—Platform Plans Legal Action</a>(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/07/12/twitter-sues-elon-musk-for-trying-to-cancel-acquisition-deal/?sh=3b8d40183d38">Twitter Sues Elon Musk For Trying To Cancel Acquisition</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



By Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and chairman of Tesla Motors at Tesla’s headquarters in San Carlos Tuesday Oct. 24, 3008.  Silicon Valley icon Musk became a billionaire founding PayPal, but he’s out to do something even more important – help humanity reach beyon

Elon Musk Sells $6.9 Billion Of Tesla Stock

A new Forbes survey of the world’s richest people found many still do household chores like taking out the garbage and grocery shopping.&nbsp;



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



The world of the super wealthy may be brimming with private jets, mega mansions and more dough than most could even dream of, but the day-to-day lives of billionaires look a whole lot more typical than many would expect.&nbsp;



That’s at least according to the results of a recent survey by&nbsp;Forbes. The poll of 65 of the richest people on Earth found that, while they could easily outsource, many billionaires still choose to do at least some household chores and other domestic tasks themselves. More than a third said they regularly grocery shop and take out the garbage, while 40% cook and walk their dogs. More than half of the respondents said they watch their children or grandchildren’s sports games. (Perhaps it’s the competitive instinct.)&nbsp;



Still, these ultra-rich have their limits, the survey suggests. Clearly greenbacks do not correlate with green thumbs as just 10% or those polled reported doing yardwork on a regular basis. The only task less popular was laundry, which just 8% of the billionaires said they tend to do.&nbsp;



There are a myriad reasons why at least some members of the superrich still do these ordinary tasks. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates–the world’s No. 2 and No. 4 richest people worth an estimated $146.8 billion and $105 billion, respectively–have both previously discussed their habits of washing the dishes every night. “Other people volunteer, but I like the way I do it,” Gates&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1xj56q/hello_reddit_im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill/?st=itofjv6g&amp;amp%3Bsh=19fc7cd0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reasoned</a>&nbsp;simply in a 2014 Reddit Q&amp;A.&nbsp;



For some, like real estate investor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/charles-cohen/?sh=5e81ceeb50f8">Charles Cohen</a>, whose estimated $3.6 billion empire includes high-end office buildings in New York City and the movie theater chain Landmark Theatres, doing chores is a way to relax outside of work. “It’s funny you bring this up because I’m just driving back from Home Depot right now with some extra sprinklers and light bulbs,” Cohen said in a recent phone call. “I like going out and doing stuff on my own.”&nbsp;



The real estate mogul described tasks like grocery shopping and grilling as a “great way to break up the week.” Cohen said he grew up in the Westchester suburbs of New York with a housekeeper, and that he and his wife try to do more of the work around the house in part to set an example for their children. “It’s all about doing the things you enjoy doing and creating a lifestyle that defines the way you are and the way you want your children to perceive you, and the values you want them to embrace,” Cohen said. (Not that he and his family live a frugal life. They own a 39-acre Connecticut estate with a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/an-expansive-connecticut-estate-becomes-an-idyllic-retreat" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">private screening room</a>&nbsp;and a vineyard in France.)



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-of-these-activities-do-you-do-regularly">WHICH OF THESE ACTIVITIES DO YOU DO REGULARLY?</h4>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insights-from-our-exclusive-survey-of-65-global-billionaires-just-how-normal-is-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-billionaire-well-more-typical-than-you-might-expect-with-more-than-a-third-doing-routine-tasks-like-cooking-and-grocery-shopping-but-folding-clothes-forget-about-it">Insights from our exclusive survey of 65 global billionaires. Just how normal is a day in the life of a billionaire? Well, more typical than you might expect, with more than a third doing routine tasks like cooking and grocery shopping. But folding clothes? Forget about it.</h4>



46%&nbsp;ATTEND KIDS’ OR GRANDKIDS’ SPORTS GAMES OR PERFORMANCES&nbsp;



40%&nbsp;COOK&nbsp;



40%&nbsp;WALK THE DOG&nbsp;



38%&nbsp;TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE&nbsp;



33%&nbsp;SHOP FOR GROCERIES&nbsp;



19%&nbsp;TAKE THE KIDS OR GRANDKIDS TO SCHOOL&nbsp;



10%&nbsp;YARDWORK&nbsp;



8%&nbsp;LAUNDRY&nbsp;



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow" id="h-if-success-changes-you-then-i-think-you-ve-missed-the-whole-point-of-life">“If success changes you, then I think you’ve missed the whole point of life.” —Frank VanderSloot</blockquote>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/frank-vandersloot/?sh=211210d14ee3">Frank VanderSloot,</a>&nbsp;the founder and executive chairman of the health and wellness business Melaleuca, and the richest person in Idaho, said doing household chores feels natural to him because of the way he grew up. The son of a railroad worker, VanderSloot recalls waking up before school to chop wood and milk the cows on his family’s farm in northern Idaho.



“People think that you’re a different person because of the size of your checking account, but it doesn’t work that way, at least I don’t think it does,” said VanderSloot. He noted that he and his wife, Belinda, hired someone to help with cleaning around the house, which has 15 rooms to accommodate their 14 children and 54 grandchildren when they come to visit. But he and his wife handle most household chores, including cooking and laundry; they pay their grandchildren to do their yardwork.&nbsp;



“I think that wealth or success will test your character more than failure ever could, and you’ve got to measure up to that,” he emphasized. “If success changes you, then I think you’ve missed the whole point of life.”&nbsp;



Yet another billionaire, who asked for his comments to remain anonymous, told&nbsp;Forbeshe does everything from taking out the trash to washing his clothes—“yes, even laundry and occasional ironing”—because he is “just not comfortable accepting personal services from others.”&nbsp;



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow" id="h-i-m-running-a-multi-billion-dollar-business-i-have-a-lot-going-on-so-it-s-obviously-not-the-best-use-of-my-time-to-be-doing-stuff-around-the-house-that-i-could-hire-someone-to-do">“I’m running a multi-billion dollar business. I have a lot going on, so it’s obviously not the best use of my time to be doing stuff around the house that I could hire someone to do.” —Jeff Greene</blockquote>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Not everyone has quite the same philosophy. After all, as the survey indicates, the majority don’t do all these chores: 60% said they don’t cook; 62% said they don’t take out their garbage and 92% don’t do laundry. Some may have good reasons.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-greene/?sh=6232cd2513ed">Jeff Greene</a>, the Palm Beach-based real estate mogul who first made his fortune shorting subprime mortgages during the Great Recession, insists that while he’s “pretty down to earth,” most household chores and tasks are handled by his staff. “I’m running a multi-billion dollar business. I have a lot going on, so it’s obviously not the best use of my time to be doing stuff around the house that I could hire someone to do,” he said.&nbsp;



When he has time outside of work, Greene said he prioritizes spending time with his three young children, who he drives to and from school each day. “We’re very involved with our kids,” he said, adding: “It’s nice to do … Compared to fighting with some contractor about a deadline, I’d rather be stuck with my kids.” 



 By <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/"></a>Jemima McEvoy, Forbes Staff

Still life of a small shopping cart and a golden apple on pink background

Inside The Daily Lives Of The Super Rich—And Why Many Billionaires Still Do Chores

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/?sh=73c0c6c27999">Elon Musk</a> is resisting Twitter&#8217;s request for an expedited trial in its effort to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/07/12/twitter-sues-elon-musk-for-trying-to-cancel-acquisition-deal/?sh=4a78eea23d38">force him to close</a> on a $44 billion deal to buy the company, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-opposes-twitters-request-for-expedited-trial-over-stalled-deal-11657921461?mod=e2tw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-15/musk-seeks-to-block-quick-twitter-trial-over-44-billion-deal?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business#xj4y7vzkg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a>, with his lawyers filing a motion Friday that asks that the trial not begin until February 2023.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



Musk&#8217;s lawyers decried Twitter&#8217;s request for a &#8220;warp speed&#8221; trial in the filing with Delaware Chancery Court, saying they need time to conduct a “forensic review and analysis of large swaths of data,&#8221; according to Bloomberg.



Twitter is seeking a four-day trial in September, but Musk&#8217;s team reportedly said a trial should be held no earlier than February 13.



The filing marks Musk&#8217;s first formal response to the lawsuit Twitter filed Tuesday, which accuses him of violating the terms of their agreement.



Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Musk informed Twitter last week he <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/07/08/elon-musk-terminating-deal-to-buy-twitter-platform-plans-legal-action/?sh=ba82d5a2e213">was terminating the deal</a>, after repeatedly accusing the company of not providing enough information to determine how many fake and spam accounts are on the platform. Mike Ringer, Musk&#8217;s attorney, said in a letter to Twitter that the company was in “material breach of multiple provisions,&#8221; but Twitter fired back in its lawsuit, claiming it was Musk that violated the agreement. Twitter accused Musk of undertaking a &#8220;fishing expedition&#8221; to try to get out of the deal, which it argued was a result of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/05/11/why-elon-musk-is-30-billion-poorer-this-week/?sh=3b41643c2f34">his personal wealth tumbling</a> after a downturn in Tesla&#8217;s share price. The company called Musk&#8217;s requests for more information on spam accounts &#8220;increasingly invasive and unreasonable&#8221; and, at least in some cases, not contractually required.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“With the sense of humor of a bot, Twitter claims Musk is damaging the company with tweets like a Chuck Norris theme and a poop emoji,” Musk&#8217;s attorneys wrote in the filing, according to Bloomberg. Twitter in the lawsuit referenced Musk tweets that were critical of it to argue he publicly disparaged the company, which would violate a non-disparagement section of the agreement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



A hearing on the request to expedite the trial is set for Tuesday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-15/musk-seeks-to-block-quick-twitter-trial-over-44-billion-deal?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business#xj4y7vzkg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Musk Says Twitter Dragged Feet on Deal and Now Rushing Trial</a>(Bloomberg)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/07/12/twitter-sues-elon-musk-for-trying-to-cancel-acquisition-deal/?sh=4a78eea23d38">Twitter Sues Elon Musk For Trying To Cancel Acquisition</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/07/08/elon-musk-terminating-deal-to-buy-twitter-platform-plans-legal-action/?sh=ba82d5a2e213">Elon Musk ‘Terminating’ Deal To Buy Twitter—Platform Plans Legal Action</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/05/11/why-elon-musk-is-30-billion-poorer-this-week/?sh=3b41643c2f34">Why Elon Musk Is $30 Billion Poorer This Week</a> (Forbes)



By Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff

Economic Photo Illustrations

Elon Musk Fights Twitter’s Push For Speedy Trial In Deal Dispute

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Elon Musk informed Twitter Friday he is &#8220;terminating&#8221; his $44 billion deal to buy the platform, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001494730/000110465922078413/tm2220599d1_sc13da.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filing</a>, but the head of Twitter’s board said the company plans to take up a legal challenge to force the agreement to go through.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Bret Taylor, the chairman of Twitter’s board, tweeted the company “is committed to closing” the deal and plans to “pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement.” 



Musk and Twitter both agreed in April that if a party chose to withdraw from the deal, that party would have to pay&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/04/26/musks-twitter-purchase-includes-1-billion-fee-if-deal-falls-through/?sh=1930f6c23eb1">a fine of $1 billion</a>.



Musk’s attorney, Mike Ringler, stated the deal is being called off because Musk does not believe Twitter has provided adequate information about how many fake and spam accounts populate the platform.



In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001494730/000110465922078413/tm2220599d1_ex99-p.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">letter</a>&nbsp;to Twitter, Ringler claimed the company is in “material breach of multiple provisions” of its agreement with Musk by allegedly not providing sufficient information.



Twitter’s stock price plunged more than 5% on Friday to close at $36.81 after reports surfaced the deal was in serious jeopardy, before dropping another 6% in after-hours trading to around $34.50 following the SEC filing.



Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from&nbsp;Forbes.<img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/1.png" alt="">Forbes Business<img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/e8869d3f-0f3e-474a-a43d-be85f87597b4/2c1bc44e-f1c7-4353-bfb7-ccc46f968f96.jpg?crop=601:338,smart&amp;width=601&amp;height=338&amp;format=jpeg&amp;quality=60&amp;fit=crop" alt="Box Office: ‘Thor 4’ Soars With Marvelous $302 Million Worldwide Debut"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/07/10/thor-love-and-thunder-box-office-weekend-143m-302m-chris-hemsworth-natalie-portman-tessa-thompson-taika-waititi-marvel-disney-movies/?traffic_source=Connatix">READ MORE</a><img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/e8869d3f-0f3e-474a-a43d-be85f87597b4/37970915-f6c2-47e4-9c05-15d9cc181053.jpg?crop=601:338,smart&amp;width=601&amp;height=338&amp;format=jpeg&amp;quality=60&amp;fit=crop" alt="The Best New Movies And Shows To Stream On Netflix, HBO, Amazon, Hulu, Disney+ And Paramount+ This Week"><img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/e8869d3f-0f3e-474a-a43d-be85f87597b4/71301578-f093-42d4-98a0-82992db0045f.jpg?crop=601:338,smart&amp;width=601&amp;height=338&amp;format=jpeg&amp;quality=60&amp;fit=crop" alt="At Least 15 Killed In Russian Strike On Ukrainian Apartments, Officials Say"><img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/e8869d3f-0f3e-474a-a43d-be85f87597b4/407feee7-7069-412f-b641-21b7f6505b83.jpg?crop=601:338,smart&amp;width=601&amp;height=338&amp;format=jpeg&amp;quality=60&amp;fit=crop" alt="Jan. 6 Committee Expects Testimony From Steve Bannon, Rep. Lofgren Says"><img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/e8869d3f-0f3e-474a-a43d-be85f87597b4/7a070b09-bf98-4a81-9c73-4ce9c6c535b4.jpg?crop=601:338,smart&amp;width=601&amp;height=338&amp;format=jpeg&amp;quality=60&amp;fit=crop" alt="‘Stranger Things’ Satanic Panic Still Lives On"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/07/10/thor-love-and-thunder-box-office-weekend-143m-302m-chris-hemsworth-natalie-portman-tessa-thompson-taika-waititi-marvel-disney-movies/?traffic_source=Connatix">Box Office: ‘Thor 4’ Soars With Marvelous $302Million Worldwide Debut</a><video></video>https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.520.0_en.html#goog_1060846798<video></video>https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.520.0_en.html#goog_661740325<video></video>https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.520.0_en.html#goog_1493066886<img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/e8869d3f-0f3e-474a-a43d-be85f87597b4/2c1bc44e-f1c7-4353-bfb7-ccc46f968f96.jpg?crop=601:410,smart&amp;width=601&amp;height=410&amp;format=jpeg&amp;quality=60&amp;fit=crop" alt="Box Office: ‘Thor 4’ Soars With Marvelous $302 Million Worldwide Debut">



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“Sometimes Twitter has ignored Mr. Musk’s requests, sometimes it has rejected them for reasons that appear to be unjustified, and sometimes it has claimed to comply while giving Mr. Musk incomplete or unusable information,” Ringer said in the letter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Twitter’s board accepted Musk’s unsolicited $44 billion offer to buy the company on April 25, but Musk said on May 13 he was putting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/05/13/elon-musk-says-twitter-deal-on-hold/?sh=42076e265670">the deal “on hold”</a>&nbsp;over concerns about fake and spam accounts on the platform. Musk expressed skepticism with Twitter’s claim that such accounts make up less than 5% of profiles, and his team was unsatisfied with data Twitter presented to attempt to back up its assertion. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/07/elon-musk-twitter-jeopardy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Washington Post</a>reported Thursday that the billionaire was expected to take a major shift in his approach to the deal after his team determined Twitter’s claim on fake and spam accounts was unverifiable. Musk said he wanted to buy Twitter because he was fed up moderation policies he believed hurt public discourse. He vowed as owner he would allow all speech permissible by law on the platform and lift bans on prominent accounts like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/05/10/musk-says-he-would-lift-twitter-ban-on-trump/?sh=215ba03779ed">former President Donald Trump’s.</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



Wedbush analysts Daniel Ives and John Katsingris called Friday’s news “a disaster scenario for Twitter,” predicting a long legal battle for Twitter to either force the deal through or get Musk to pay the $1 billion termination penalty. The stock could trade as low as $25 when markets open Monday, according to the analysts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$54.20. That’s how much the April 25 deal valued Twitter shares at, putting the company’s market cap at $44 billion. Concerns over the deal and a broader tech selloff has caused the stock to plunge over the past few months, though. Twitter’s market cap Friday afternoon was around $28 billion.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/07/07/musks-deal-to-buy-twitter-in-danger-of-falling-apart-report-says/?sh=724204ed2582">Musk’s Deal To Buy Twitter In Danger Of Falling Apart, Report Says</a>(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/04/26/musks-twitter-purchase-includes-1-billion-fee-if-deal-falls-through/?sh=1930f6c23eb1">Musk’s Twitter Purchase Includes $1 Billion Fee If Deal Falls Through</a>(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/05/13/elon-musk-says-twitter-deal-on-hold/?sh=42076e265670">Elon Musk Says Twitter Deal ‘On Hold’</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/05/10/musk-says-he-would-lift-twitter-ban-on-trump/?sh=215ba03779ed">Musk Says He Would Lift ‘Foolish’ Twitter Ban On Trump</a> (Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/"></a>By Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff

Elon Musk And Twitter Logo Illustration

Elon Musk ‘Terminating’ Deal To Buy Twitter—Platform Plans Legal Action

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Elon Musk&#8217;s $44 billion deal to buy Twitter is now in serious doubt, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/07/elon-musk-twitter-jeopardy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Washington Post</a>, which reported Thursday the billionaire&#8217;s team could pursue a massive change in strategy amid concerns about spam and fake accounts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



Talks between Musk&#8217;s team and investors who could help him finance the deal have slowed recently because the team feels Twitter has not been &#8220;cooperative&#8221; in sharing information about fake accounts, an anonymous source with knowledge of the discussions told the&nbsp;Post.



A source also told the&nbsp;Post&nbsp;there could soon be a major shift in Musk&#8217;s approach to close the deal, but it&#8217;s not clear what that change may be.



The setback is reportedly over concerns about how many spam accounts populate Twitter.



The company has long stated fake and spam profiles make up less than 5% of users, but Musk began expressing skepticism with that figure after he agreed to buy Twitter, and his team has now determined Twitter&#8217;s claim is unverifiable, according to the&nbsp;Post.



Neither Musk nor Twitter immediately responded to requests for comment from Forbes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



If either Musk or Twitter pull out of the deal, the terminating party will be required to pay&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/04/26/musks-twitter-purchase-includes-1-billion-fee-if-deal-falls-through/?sh=1930f6c23eb1">a $1 billion penalty</a>, though the issue would likely result in a legal battle before any fine is paid. If Musk breaches the agreement to buy Twitter, the company&nbsp;<a href="https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001418091/67572c16-711a-43fd-9488-b75e3f6bc469.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">could also sue him</a>&nbsp;for “specific performance,” and try to&nbsp;<a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/in-house-counsel/musk-says-twitters-lack-of-info-on-bots-breaches-merger-deal" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">force him in court</a>&nbsp;to follow through with the purchase.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



On April 25, the Twitter board accepted Musk&#8217;s unsolicited bid to purchase 100% of the company and take it private at a valuation of $54.20 a share, a deal that followed weeks of maneuvering by both the company and the world’s richest person. Musk on May 13 said the deal was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/05/13/elon-musk-says-twitter-deal-on-hold/?sh=42076e265670">being put &#8220;on hold&#8221;</a>&nbsp;until he received more data on fake and spam accounts on the platform, though he claimed to still be &#8220;committed to acquisition.&#8221; To ease these concerns, Twitter eventually agreed to give Musk’s team—which chose not to do&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/technology/twitter-musk-firehose-tweets.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">extensive</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/06/07/elon-musk-twitter-buyout-takeover-bots-purchase-acquisition-spam/?sh=58badbf65d72">due diligence</a>&nbsp;when the deal was struck—<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/06/09/twitter-elon-musk-bots-data-firehose-api/?sh=17251d015382">access to user data</a>. Twitter&#8217;s stock has also plummeted over the past few months amid doubt over whether the deal will close—a problem that&#8217;s been exacerbated by a broader tech selloff on the stock market. Twitter ended the day Thursday at $38.79 a share, placing the company&#8217;s market cap at less than $30 billion. Musk’s decision to buy Twitter came after he frequently criticized the social network for its moderation policies, claiming it unnecessarily censors non-mainstream viewpoints. He has vowed to allow all speech permissible by law on the platform once he becomes owner.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



A bombshell <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-shivon-zilis-secret-twins-neuralink-tesla?utmSource=twitter&amp;utmContent=referral&amp;utmTerm=topbar&amp;referrer=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Insider</a> article published Wednesday revealed <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/07/06/elon-musk-secretly-fathered-twins-with-neuralink-executive-report-says/?sh=7d1e25466505">Musk quietly fathered twins</a> in November with an executive at <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/neuralink/">Neuralink</a>, a company he cofounded and serves as CEO of, bringing his number of known living children to nine. Musk <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/07/07/musk-comments-on-having-twins-with-top-employee-doing-my-best-to-help-the-underpopulation-crisis/?sh=1ceef406395b">responded to the report</a> Thursday by tweeting: &#8220;Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis.&#8221;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis. A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1545046146548019201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/07/elon-musk-twitter-jeopardy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter is in peril</a>&nbsp;(Washington Post)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/07/07/musk-comments-on-having-twins-with-top-employee-doing-my-best-to-help-the-underpopulation-crisis/?sh=1ceef406395b">Musk Comments On Having Twins With Top Employee: ‘Doing My Best To Help The Underpopulation Crisis’</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/07/06/elon-musk-secretly-fathered-twins-with-neuralink-executive-report-says/?sh=7d1e25466505">Elon Musk Secretly Fathered Twins With Neuralink Executive, Report Says</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/05/13/elon-musk-says-twitter-deal-on-hold/?sh=42076e265670">Elon Musk Says Twitter Deal ‘On Hold’</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/04/26/musks-twitter-purchase-includes-1-billion-fee-if-deal-falls-through/?sh=1930f6c23eb1">Musk’s Twitter Purchase Includes $1 Billion Fee If Deal Falls Through</a>(Forbes)



By Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff

Musk’s Deal To Buy Twitter In Danger Of Falling Apart, Report Says

The fortune of the world’s richest person, Tesla chief Elon Musk, soared by $14.5 billion Tuesday, as shares of his electric vehicle maker rose 9.4%, outpacing the tech heavy Nasdaq’s 2.5% rebound from last week’s decline. Analysts attributed Tesla’s outperformance to both comments by Musk and broader market factors.



Referring to an interview Musk granted to Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum Tuesday in which the Tesla chief highlighted the size of the company’s order backlog, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said that “positive demand comments from Musk have resonated with the Street and given some confidence in this white knuckle macro environment.” In the interview, Musk reiterated his concerns about a recession and the need to downsize Tesla’s workforce, but investors appear to have zeroed in on his comments downplaying the threat of competition, and identifying supply constraints as the main obstacle to fulfilling the company’s robust demand.



“As anyone knows who has tried to order a Tesla, the demand for our cars is extremely high and the wait list is long,” Musk told Bloomberg. “This is not intentional and we’re increasing production capacity as fast as humanly possible.”



According to RiskReversal Advisors’ founder and principal Dan Nathan, this commentary may have been encouraging to investors “buying into what they think is a ‘make the quarter at any cost mentality’ as Musk is known to send out encouraging messages to employees as he did last week.” Nathan adds that “over the last year, shares of Tesla in the last month of each quarter have had huge rallies in the last couple weeks of the month from their lows.” But he also cautions that Musk’s comments about a recession and lingering China production issues “might be setting investors up for a miss on Q2 deliveries and earnings.”



GLJ Research CEO Gordon Johnson says that Tesla’s soaring stock price is due to broader market factors, noting that with stocks coming off their worst week since March 2020 last week, “the 14-day relative strength index of the S&amp;P 500 suggests the stock market is currently oversold, and high-beta stocks like Tesla were due for a bounce.” (Stocks with high beta coefficients generally move more than the broad market in either direction.)



“But none of this is fundamental,” says Johnson, a Tesla bear, who says he expects the company’s Q2 deliveries and earnings to disappoint. “Thus, with Tesla trading at a ~50x forward P/E multiple vs. 4.6x for its peer group, we see any fundamental disappointments as likely sending the shares lower.”



That prospect may be daunting for both Tesla investors and the company’s TechnoKing Elon Musk. But at least for now, he remains the world’s richest person by a longshot, worth $228.4 billion, according to Forbes’ estimates–-$88 billion more than No. 2 richest Bernard Arnault of French luxury conglomerate LVMH.



By Matt Durot, Forbes Staff

TIME Person of the Year

Why Elon Musk Is Nearly $15 Billion Richer Tuesday

Aliko Dangote’s just-launched fertilizer plant expected to help earn Nigeria about $5 billion in export revenue.



IN MARCH, AFRICA’S RICHEST MAN, ALIKO DANGOTE, opened A $2.5 billion urea and ammonia fertilizer plant in Nigeria commissioned by the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari.



In an interview with FORBES AFRICA, Dangote, the president and CEO of Dangote Group, the continent’s largest cement producer, says the new fertilizer plant, which has already started production, could lead to Nigeria earning about $5 billion in export revenue.



“We are getting a huge demand from all over the world with massive orders from the European Union,” says the billionaire entrepreneur, who is also opening an oil refinery, expected to be Africa’s biggest with the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day, by the third quarter of 2022.



The war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, the world’s largest exporter of fertilizers, have meant disrupted global supply chains and this has ignited the price of fertilizers for Africa’s small-scale farmers. Fertilizers provide healthy nutrients for crops and experts say the current impasse can stifle agricultural growth and lead to hunger on the continent.



“As they say, when Nigeria sneezes, the rest of Africa catches a cold and that is exactly what is happening. The Dangote fertilizer plant is important to Africa because with the Ukraine and Russia war, it is just a matter of months that some parts of Africa will be plunged into hunger. We need to have agricultural solutions that do not just rely on the West but rather on Africa,” says Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, a think tank based in Accra, Ghana, to FORBES AFRICA.



Nitrogen, potash and phosphate that are important for fertilizer manufacture also come from Russia and Ukraine. The countries’ leading position stems from their influence on the gas ecosystem too. Fertilizers are a by-product of ammonia created when mixing nitrogen and hydrogen gas.



“The price of nitrogen fertilizer has skyrocketed in recent months. In Europe, we are looking at about 1,000 euros per ton. Now, if more developed economies in Europe are struggling with the cost of fertilizer, what do you think the impact on Africa will be,” asks Farouk Rabiu Mudi, President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).



Dangote’s fertilizer factory, located in Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, sits on 500 hectares (over 1,200 acres) of land with capacity to produce three million metric tons of urea yearly. The Dangote Group’s website cites the plant as Africa’s largest granulated urea fertilizer complex.



The oil refinery, also at the same location, will boast 1,100kms of subsea pipeline infrastructure to handle 3 billion Standard Cubic Foot (SCF) of gas per day produced for commercial use.



Nigeria has struggled for years to diversify its economy from oil dependency to other value-added sectors. The former minister of agriculture and President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has asserted Nigeria’s need to diversify its export base to a high- value market product that will pursue wealth creation and value-added manufacturing.



The commissioning of the fertilizer factory by the Dangote Group is expected to boost the investment in the sector and hopefully lead to self-sufficiency in food production for the continent.

Key Speakers and Interviews at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum

Aliko Dangote On $2.5 Billion Fertilizer Plant: ‘Massive Orders From The EU’

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to lay off around 10% of Tesla’s workforce due to his concerns about the state of the global economy, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-musk-says-tesla-needs-cut-staff-by-10-pauses-all-hiring-2022-06-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;on Friday citing an internal email sent to company executives, a move that could see thousands of workers at the electric car maker lose their jobs amid growing fears of a recession.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-musk-says-tesla-needs-cut-staff-by-10-pauses-all-hiring-2022-06-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;Reuters, Musk sent an email on Thursday ordering a freeze on new hiring and wrote that he has a “super bad feeling” about the state of the economy.



Despite the purported email, Tesla’s LinkedIn&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/tesla-motors/jobs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">page</a>&nbsp;continues to show more than 5,000 active new openings at the company as of early Friday morning.



According to last year’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000095017022000796/tsla-20211231.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earnings report</a>, Tesla and its subsidiaries had 99,290 active employees at the end of 2021.



The markets reacted negatively to Reuters’ report with Tesla’s Nasdaq-listed shares being down 3.8% in pre-market trading early on Friday morning.



Tesla did not respond to&nbsp;Forbes’ request for comment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$233.7 billion. That’s Musk’s total net worth as of Friday morning, according to&nbsp;Forbes’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#4b8c67493d78">real-time tracker</a>, making him the richest person in the world. The mercurial billionaire’s net worth has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/05/20/why-elon-musk-is-11-billion-poorer-friday/?sh=722d89e5380a">fluctuated significantly</a>&nbsp;over the past two months as the saga over his planned acquisition of Twitter has played out.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Musk’s reported call for job cuts at Tesla comes just days after another controversial email allegedly written by him was leaked to the public. In the email, the billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/06/01/musk-says-tesla-staff-can-pretend-to-work-somewhere-else-following-leaked-emails-ending-remote-work/?sh=1e75c2a81d8b">reportedly ordered</a>&nbsp;Tesla executive staff to return to work a minimum of 40 hours a week from the company’s office, effectively barring full remote work. Musk did not confirm or deny that he wrote the email and when asked about people who want to work remotely he&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1531867103854317568" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;“they should pretend to work somewhere else.” Last month, speaking at an event organized by the&nbsp;Financial Times, Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfyrQVhfGZc&amp;t=3506s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">praised</a>&nbsp;Tesla’s factory workers in China, saying they were willing to work long hours, sometimes as late as 3 a.m. and not even leave the factory if needed. He then took a dig at American workers, saying: “People are trying to avoid going to work at all.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-musk-says-tesla-needs-cut-staff-by-10-pauses-all-hiring-2022-06-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Exclusive: Elon Musk wants to cut 10% of Tesla jobs</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/06/01/musk-says-tesla-staff-can-pretend-to-work-somewhere-else-following-leaked-emails-ending-remote-work/?sh=1e75c2a81d8b">Musk Says Tesla Staff Can ‘Pretend To Work Somewhere Else’ Following Leaked Emails Ending Remote Work</a> (Forbes)



By <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/"></a>Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Elon Musk Reportedly Wants To Lay Off 10% Of Tesla’s Workforce As He Frets About The Economy

Elon Musk will drop one of the riskier components behind his $44 billion bid for Twitter, a move you can read as a smart one given the single direction markets have moved over the past few weeks: down, down, down.



Musk has scrapped a plan to take out a margin loan as part of his financing for the $54.20-a-share takeover, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001494730/000110465922064655/tm2216931d1_sc13da.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a new SEC filing</a>. Originally, he intended to use a $12.5 billion such loan, but several weeks ago, he halved the figure after bringing in additional investors to the deal. Now, he says he’ll make up that $6.25 billion with additional equity. This doesn’t affect another $13 billion in standard corporate debt involved in the deal.



If Musk had taken the margin loan, he would’ve secured it with his Tesla stock, some $31.25 billion based on the loan’s terms. With Tesla stock falling, he was in the position of needing more Tesla shares to cover the loan. Margin loans are a gamble in the best of times. Even more so during financially distressing ones, such as the period&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/05/18/dow-falls-800-points-stock-market-selloff-continues-as-major-retailers-warn-of-rising-cost-pressures/">we currently find ourselves in</a>.



If things worsened, there was the outside possibility Musk could face a so-called margin call, when the equity securing a margin loan has deteriorated and a lender forces a loan’s repayment. Had this happened, Musk would’ve needed to sell Tesla stock all pell-mell style, depressing the share price further. (The most dramatic margin calls lead to dramatic ends, spirals that consume and end a company’s fortunes. It probably wouldn’t happen to Tesla, but it would’ve definitely made a bad situation even worse.) Musk’s lender,&nbsp;Morgan Stanley, had set a threshold of a 40% decline in Tesla stock to trigger such an event. With Tesla stock already down almost 25% in the past month, you get a sense of Musk’s circumstances: Significantly changed from when he first talked about taking over Twitter in April, that is is to say.



As with everything Musk-Twitter, there are complications to this turn of events. Foremost, where will he get the $6.5 billion in equity to replace the margin loan?



He’ll need to do one of two things. Possibly, he’ll sell more Tesla shares, not a great scenario in a down market. Doing so will further depress Tesla stock. Or he will need to find more friends to join his merry band, also not a great scenario. If it was hard to convince investors a month ago before markets wilted—and judging by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=forbes+alwaleed+abram&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS907US907&amp;oq=forbes+alwaleed+abram&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l3.4782j0j4&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the dearth</a>&nbsp;of traditional high-profile names on the deal table, it sure seems like it was difficult—it&#8217;ll be even tougher to talk people into it now. In down markets, investors run away from companies like Twitter, scantily profitable ones and forever something of a commercial disappointment. They do not tend to run toward them. Twitter shares ended Thursday at $37.16, much below Musk’s $54.20 offer.



And it’s not just that! Imagine going out on a fundraising tour right now to buy a company you’ve just spent the past few weeks maligning, accusing it of mismanaging basics like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/05/16/twitter-bots-bot-spam-musk-ceo-parag-agrawal/">estimating spam</a>. It’d be as if Musk hoped to find someone to partner with him on a fixer-upper after he stood in the street yelling about how the place has rats and bad wiring. (But don’t worry, I know a good exterminator. This house will be great after I’m done with it,&nbsp;he will presumably need to tell any new co-investors. Justifiably, they may then look at him sorta funny and wonder if they should quickly get back in their cars.)



Plus, the other matter: Hasn’t Musk said the whole thing’s on hold over those spam numbers? In a sense, you can look at his decision about the margin loan as a sign it’s very much not on hold, and Musk expects to follow through. Why drop the margin loan and make the SEC filing if he didn’t? Looks like he might buy the place after all—even if it does have pests.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/"></a>By Abram Brown, Forbes Staff

Elon Musk visits construction site of the Tesla Giga Factory

Elon Musk Drops Margin Loan From Twitter Bid, Making It A Little Less Risky

Tesla shares are down 15% since last Friday, making it a bad week for the world’s richest person.



Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk lost $15.7 billion of his net worth on Wednesday, as shares of his electric vehicle maker fell by 8%. The world’s richest person (worth an estimated $224.5 billion) is now $31.4 billion poorer than he was last Friday, according to&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates, as Tesla’s market capitalization has cratered by 15% this week –far more than the 6% drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq.



According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, “Shanghai factory issues due to the zero Covid policy in China have been a major overhang on the stock in an already jittery tape”—referring to the drop in tech stocks, which Ives describes as a “massive risk off with Tesla front and center.” With inflation surging and interest rates rising, investors’ appetite for assets considered to be relatively speculative is waning.



Speaking at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/87e5eff2-ff1a-4d46-93e0-5b9f889d00df?accessToken=zwAAAYC0oJPYkdOH5e_y_xpNRtOT4FufiJ0A3w.MEUCIFcpLCsKR2ow07gCP96vRF-Cj7hhId9IWTnF36bxSymVAiEAnEt372gBHy6OHmwtF4SpnYGHw3SY05sPw5-CrQdM2Es&amp;sharetype=gift?token=dcba43c8-9800-441d-875b-891e12a76dc5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Financial Times’ Future of the Car Summit</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, Musk did his best to alleviate investors’ concerns, citing encouraging conversations he’s had with the Chinese government in recent days about the country’s latest round of lockdowns, though he did hint at the possibility of restricting new Tesla orders in the short-term.



“We’re actually probably going to limit that — just stop taking orders for anything beyond a certain period of time,” Musk said.



That must have been discouraging to hear for Tesla investors already concerned about the distraction posed by Musk’s $44 billion Twitter takeover. At the FT summit Tuesday, the Tesla chief insisted that he is “confident we will be able to sell all the cars we can make.” But according to Wedbush’s Ives, “Musk distraction issues remain at play as an overhang on the stock.” By distraction, Ives means the ongoing process of purchasing Twitter.



While the Tesla CEO announced he has raised $7.1 billion from a group of A-List investors last Thursday to help fund his Twitter acquisition, he still hasn’t explained where the remainder of the $27.3 billion equity commitment he made to Twitter’s board will come from. And the list of potential distractions for Musk, who already runs two companies, keeps getting longer.



According to an investor pitch deck leaked to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/technology/elon-musk-twitter-pitch-deck.html?msclkid=258e7fe9d15f11eca815c10fac2bb1cc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times&nbsp;</a>last Friday, Musk’s Twitter turnaround plans may be even more ambitious than Tesla investors imagined: he reportedly hopes to quadruple users and quintuple revenue by 2028, while cutting Twitter’s reliance on its main revenue source (advertising) in half. That sounds like a lot of work for Musk, who is expected to serve as Twitter’s interim CEO after the deal closes, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/05/elon-musk-expected-to-serve-as-temporary-twitter-ceo-after-deal-closes.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report by CNBC</a>. Musk has also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/05/03/musk-reportedly-plans-to-take-twitter-public-a-few-years-after-acquisition/?msclkid=8290748cd16411ecb1d43e7c781e4ff7&amp;sh=3c4239db92b6">reportedly said</a>&nbsp;that he plans to take Twitter public again in as few as three years, hinting at a time consuming IPO process lingering down the road.



And that’s assuming the deal closes promptly. Twitter short-seller Hindenburg Research is betting that won’t be the case, saying in a&nbsp;<a href="https://hindenburgresearch.com/twitter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">note released Monday</a>&nbsp;that it sees “a significant risk that the deal gets repriced lower” due to the declining values of tech companies since Musk made his initial offer. In other words, Musk may have some bargaining left to do with Twitter’s board.



Musk could always just walk away from the deal, which keeps on getting more expensive. His stake in Tesla, worth $167 billion today, was worth $235.1 billion on April 13, the day before he announced his Twitter takeover–meaning Musk was more than $68 billion richer before he made his plans for the social media company public. For now, Musk remains the world’s richest person by a long shot, worth $78.3 billion more than runner-up Bernard Arnault of French luxury empire LVMH. But at some point, the Twitter deal’s $1 billion breakup fee may start to look like a bargain.



By Matt Durot, Forbes Staff

Tesla Officially Opens Gruenheide Gigafactory

Why Elon Musk Is $30 Billion Poorer This Week

Newly valued at $2 billion, the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/lists/ai50/">AI 50</a> debutant originated as a chatbot for teenagers. Now, it has aspirations—and $100 million in fresh dry powder—to be the GitHub of machine learning.



When Hugging Face first announced itself to the world five years ago, it came in the form of an iPhone chatbot app for bored teenagers. It shared selfies of its computer-generated face, cracked jokes and gossiped about its crush on Siri. It hardly made any money.



The viral moment came in 2018—not among teens, but developers. The founders of Hugging Face had begun to share bits of the app’s underlying code online for free. Almost immediately, researchers from some of the biggest tech names in the business, including Google and Microsoft, began using it for AI applications. Today, the chatbot has long since disappeared from the App Store, but Hugging Face has become the central depot for ready-to-use machine-learning models, the starting point from which more than 10,000 organizations have created AI-powered tools for their businesses.



Hugging Face announced Monday, in conjunction with its debut appearance on&nbsp;Forbes’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/lists/ai50">AI 50</a>&nbsp;list, that it raised a $100 million round of venture financing, valuing the company at $2 billion. Top-tier venture capital firms Coatue and Sequoia won slots as new backers in the hotly contested Series C, joining A.Capital Ventures,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2020/07/01/lee-fixel-raises-1-billion-fund-addition/">Addition</a>&nbsp;Capital and lead investor Lux Capital as major stakeholders in the Brooklyn-based startup.



“Machine learning is becoming the new way to build technology, replacing software,” says Clément Delangue, cofounder and CEO of Hugging Face, which is named after the emoji that looks like a smiling face with jazz hands. “The old school of building technology was writing a million lines of code. Machine learning is starting to do that, but much better and much faster.”



Speaking from his home in Miami, where he moved during the pandemic (weather, not web3, he explains), Delangue, 33, says he believes that what GitHub is for software, Hugging Face has become for machine learning. That’s a confident comparison, considering the widespread popularity of GitHub, which is used by more than 70 million developers to share and collaborate on code and was last recorded making $300 million in revenue at the time of its $7.5 billion sale to Microsoft in 2018. Hugging Face, by contrast, generated less than $10 million last year, according to three people familiar with its finances. Delangue declines to comment on the number, but he and investors think that machine learning is already becoming the single most important technology of the 2020s, and that Hugging Face can eventually make billions in revenue with its own army of AI-minded developers.



“The companies you would assume are competitors on first blush—whether it’s Google or Amazon or Facebook—almost all of them are proponents,” says Lux Capital’s Brandon Reeves, who first invested in Hugging Face in 2019. “It really feels like this Switzerland-like piece of real estate in the ecosystem.”



“I don’t really see a world where machine learning becomes the default way to build technology and where Hugging Face is the No. 1 platform for this, and we don’t manage to generate several billion dollars in revenue.”Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue



Growing up in La Bassée, a small town of 6,000 in the north of France, Delangue recalls an idle childhood until he got his first computer at age 12. By 17, he’d become one of the top French merchants on eBay, selling ATVs and dirt bikes he imported from China and stockpiled in his father’s garden equipment shop. That prowess impressed eBay, which offered him an internship once he began college at ESCP Business School in Paris. Representing the company at an e-commerce trade show, Delangue was accosted by another attendee who trashed eBay’s recent acquisition of a barcode-scanning app—barcodes, the man said, would soon be obsolete because of advances in AI.



The man turned out to be a cofounder of Moodstocks, a startup making image-recognition software using machine learning. “With a very small team, they were managing to do stuff on par with what Google was doing with 100 times more people,” he says (years later, the company was acquired by Google). Impressed by the nimbleness of startups, Delangue never looked back. He declined eBay’s offer to extend his internship so that he could spend his free time at Moodstocks. After graduating in 2012, he turned down a job from Google to run his own startup. Delangue’s idea for a collaborative note-taking app didn’t go far, but in the tight-knit European startup scene he met Julien Chaumond, a fellow entrepreneur building a collaborative ebook reader. The pair riffed on their mutual interest in open technology and talked about starting a company together.



That time came in 2016, after both their companies had ground to a halt. A third cofounder was recruited in Thomas Wolf, a college friend of Chaumond’s who had gone on to receive a Ph.D. in physics and written research papers on machine learning. For the business idea, they settled on “open-domain conversational AI”—in other words, a chatbot that could understand any kind of conversation topic—because they felt it was the most difficult problem in technology they had the expertise to tackle at the time, Delangue says. “There’s this dream we all have to speak with an AI about everything, like you see in sci-fi.”



Hugging Face began as a personalized, Tamagotchi-like friend powered by a form of AI known as natural language processing (NLP). To train the chatbot’s natural language capabilities, the team also built an underlying library to house various machine-learning models—for example, one to detect the emotions behind a text message and another to be able to generate a coherent response—and the many datasets for understanding different kinds of conversational topics, like sports or classroom gossip. Harking back to the founders’ values for open collaboration, they released free pieces of the library as an open-source project on GitHub. The company participated in a bot-specific accelerator program run by the New York-based startup studio Betaworks and raised seed funding from venture capitalists as well as NBA star Kevin Durant. But two years in, their chatbot hadn’t made much money and was losing its hold on the attention spans of its young users.



Around the same time, researchers at Google and OpenAI announced the development of “transformers,” a new type of NLP model that demolished the reading comprehension abilities of both humans and the best AI incumbent at the time. By 2019, Google was powering its search results using this model. Hugging Face’s open-source library appeared at the perfect time for organizations that wanted to harness these NLP breakthroughs but didn’t have the same machinery as Google to build them from scratch. It became a near-instant hit as the machine-learning community converged around it as the central base for deploying transformer models. “We released things without thinking too much about it and the community blew up, as a surprise even to us,” Delangue says.



Reeves, the Lux investor, first met Delangue at a coffee shop in downtown San Francisco on a Friday near the end of 2019. Scared to miss out on a chance to invest, he offered a term sheet the following Monday at an $80 million valuation. “For 90% of the companies I’ve invested in, I’ve known them for many weeks or months or years,” he says. “I don’t think any have come over a weekend.” Since Delangue accepted Lux’s check, usage has continued to skyrocket. The developer community has built more than 100,000 machine learning models on Hugging Face, enabling others in turn to use those pretrained models for their own AI projects instead of having to build models from scratch. On GitHub, Hugging Face has accumulated “stars”—a vanity metric measuring the popularity of an open-source project—at a faster pace than the projects behind&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2021/06/24/confluent-shares-jump-25-in-ipo-making-co-founders-new-cloud-computing-billionaires/">Confluent</a>&nbsp;(annual revenue of $388 million),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2021/05/26/accidental-billionaires-databricks-ceo-ali-ghodsi-seven-berkeley-academics/">Databricks</a>&nbsp;(more than $800 million) and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2017/10/19/mongodbs-ipo-gives-new-york-tech-a-much-needed-win-as-shares-jump-25/">MongoDB</a>&nbsp;($874 million).



Although funding rounds for companies with similar stature were plentiful in 2021, the growth-stage venture capital market has since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccaszkutak/2022/03/23/record-setting-venture-capital-market-shows-signs-of-a-slowdown/">slowed</a>&nbsp;to a near halt. Hugging Face’s latest financing then indicates a more rarified vote of investor confidence, but some in the data startup ecosystem have privately expressed curiosity about how Delangue can grow Hugging Face’s revenue enough to validate its hefty valuation. Delangue thinks that if enough free users get hooked on Hugging Face, the money will follow in time from some of the companies that employ the users. “Given how valuable machine learning is and how mainstream it’s becoming, usage is deferred revenue,” Delangue says. “I don’t really see a world where machine learning becomes the default way to build technology and where Hugging Face is the No. 1 platform for this, and we don’t manage to generate several billion dollars in revenue.”



Hugging Face only started to offer paid features last year and counts more than 1,000 companies as customers, according to Delangue, including Intel and his former stomping ground eBay. Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Roche pay for enterprise-grade security features, while Bloomberg is paying to run machine learning for its real-time terminal through Hugging Face instead of having to build out its own infrastructure. Microsoft is not a customer, but prominently uses Hugging Face as the basis to train its Bing search engine to better understand natural language queries.



“They prioritized adoption over monetization, which I think was correct,” says Sequoia partner Pat Grady, one of the new investors. “They saw that transformer-based models working their way outside of NLP and saw a chance to be the GitHub not just for NLP, but for every domain of machine learning.” Indeed, over the course of the last year, Hugging Face has started to become a hub for machine learning models for a variety of uses, such as computer vision to train image recognition in self-driving cars and recommender systems to help pharmaceutical companies predict the effectiveness of new drug therapies.



If his assumptions of machine learning supremacy are wrong, Delangue says Hugging Face is close to breakeven and has all $40 million from its previous fundraise still in the bank to reorient. “One of my personal learnings as an entrepreneur is to not think too much strategically with a big business plan of ten years, but more to experiment and follow the validation of the community and what they’re telling you,” he says. If the vision pans out, Reeves thinks the prize could be a $50 billion or $100 billion market capitalization on the stock market. It’s no wonder that Delangue says he’s turned down multiple “meaningful acquisition offers” and won’t sell his business, like GitHub did to Microsoft.



“We want to be the first company to go public with an emoji, rather than a three-letter ticker,” he says with an emoji-like smile. “We have to start doing some lobbying to the Nasdaq to make sure it can happen.”



By Kenrick Cai, Forbes Staff

Screenshot 2022-05-10 at 10.02.49

The $2 Billion Emoji: Hugging Face Wants To Be Launchpad For A Machine Learning Revolution

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Elon Musk is looking for additional equity financing for his planned $44 billion purchase of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/twitter/?sh=2f10336d22a3">Twitter</a>, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-musk-talks-new-twitter-financing-sources-2022-05-02/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;Monday, which could allow the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/">billionaire</a>&nbsp;to reduce the amount of his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbesindia.com/article/news/musk-offloads-4-billion-in-tesla-shares-after-twitter-deal/75805/1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">own money</a>&nbsp;bound up in the acquisition without taking out more loans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/tesla/">Tesla</a>&nbsp;CEO has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-musk-talks-new-twitter-financing-sources-2022-05-02/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">approached</a>&nbsp;investment firms including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/apollo-global-management/?sh=5a842bd17358">Apollo Global Management</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/ares-management/">Ares Management</a>, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.



Musk is reportedly communicating with hedge funds, private equity companies and wealthy individuals about the possibility of obtaining equity financing.



Musk has offered to pay for Twitter through&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001418091/000110465922048128/tm2213229d1_sc13da.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$21 billion</a>&nbsp;in equity financing, in addition to a $12.5 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/elon-musk-to-acquire-twitter-twtr/">margin loan</a>&nbsp;against part of his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/04/26/why-elon-musk-is-already-26-billion-poorer-because-hes-buying-twitter/">21% stake</a>&nbsp;in Tesla and $13 billion in loans secured against Twitter assets.



Some banks that offered to support the acquisition with loans secured against Twitter have hesitated to provide additional debt financing,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-musk-talks-new-twitter-financing-sources-2022-05-02/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reuters</a>&nbsp;reported, noting that banks think Twitter did not generate sufficient cash flow to justify more loans.



However, Reuters said Musk is still deliberating on whether to enlist equity partners to help shoulder his own $21 billion share of funding for the Twitter acquisition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



Musk has also contacted major Twitter shareholders—including founder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jack-dorsey/?sh=4d4b5b992372">Jack Dorsey</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/fidelity-investments/?sh=234e8055370a">Fidelity</a>—about the prospect of holding onto their stakes in the company’s new structure, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-musk-talks-new-twitter-financing-sources-2022-05-02/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>. Musk has previously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-14/the-twitter-investors-musk-hopes-to-keep-may-not-want-to-stay" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suggested</a>&nbsp;that he wants to retain as many existing Twitter shareholders as possible following the planned acquisition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Musk disclosed April 4 he had acquired a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/04/04/elon-musk-acquires-92-stake-in-twitter/">9.2%</a>&nbsp;stake in Twitter, and later made his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/04/26/musks-twitter-purchase-includes-1-billion-fee-if-deal-falls-through/?sh=7872cf3eb15a">“best and final offer”</a>&nbsp;to purchase the entire company for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/04/25/twitter-elon-musk-takeover-bid-deal-43-billion-54-20/?sh=191965d8b680">$54.20 per share</a>&nbsp;The board first adopted a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-moves-to-block-elon-musk-from-increasing-stake-11650040204?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“poison pill”</a>&nbsp;defense to deter a hostile takeover, but several days after Musk announced he had secured&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/04/21/elon-musk-has-secured-465-billion-in-financing-for-twitter-bid-considers-tender-offer/?sh=2a43ef2316a4">$46.5 billion</a>&nbsp;in financing, the board accepted his offer. Despite setting a lofty goal of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/technology/twitter-earnings-4q-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">doubling revenue</a>&nbsp;from 2021 to 2023, Twitter’s growth has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/04/27/twitters-first-quarter-earnings-sojust-how-bad-are-they/">lagged</a>&nbsp;expectations. In the&nbsp;<a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/826641620/files/doc_financials/2022/q1/Final-Q1%E2%80%9922-earnings-release.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first quarter</a>&nbsp;of 2022, Twitter’s revenue grew by 16% year-over-year to $1.2 billion. The company’s net income grew 655% year-over-year to $513 million, though this growth was due mostly to a gain of $970 million from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/martyswant/2021/10/06/twitter-is-selling-its-mobile-ad-network-mopub-to-applovin-for-105-billion/">sale</a>&nbsp;of the mobile ad network MoPub, and the company reported an operating loss of $128 million in the first quarter. Musk said he intends to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/musk-told-banks-he-will-rein-twitter-pay-make-money-tweets-sources-2022-04-29/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">boost</a>&nbsp;Twitter’s profitability by offering new opportunities to monetize tweets and that he intends to cut costs by reducing Twitter board member salaries from roughly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/05/02/musk-criticizes-twitters-executive-compensation-heres-how-it-compares-to-rivals-meta-snap-and-alphabet/">$290,000</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1516056299376623626?s=20&amp;t=gPll1s9GF3Pt_5KAO4G7iw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$0</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/">$253.6 billion.</a>&nbsp;That’s how much Musk is worth, making him the world’s richest person, according to&nbsp;Forbes’ estimates. His stakes in Tesla and SpaceX account for most of his fortune.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/04/29/how-musk-already-owns-twitter-the-8-top-tweets-in-the-past-week/">“How Musk Already Owns Twitter: The 8 Top Tweets In The Past Week”</a> (Forbes)



By <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/"></a>Zachary Snowdon Smith, Forbes Staff

Musk Reportedly Seeks More Financing For Twitter Acquisition

At the recent Forbes Under 30 Summit Africa in Botswana, Patrice Motsepe called for more urgent investments in young people.



President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and South African billionaire, Patrice Motsepe, called for the greater promotion of African football, also urging investments in young startups, at the recent Forbes Under 30 Summit Africa, held in Botswana from April 24-28.



In a keynote conversation on the second day of the summit, Motsepe took to the stage at the Botswana Digital and Innovation Hub in the country’s capital Gaborone, addressing as many as 600 entrepreneurs attending from across Africa and the world. The summit was also attended by Botswana’s President, Mokgweetsi Masisi.



“The young people seated here, in front of me, reflect some of the brightest in the world,” said Motsepe, adding that it is “an exceptional time” for Africa.



“We have got to invest in infrastructure and finance and encourage more young people start startups and keep starting again.”



Starting businesses in Africa is not the same as in the rest of the world, he pointed out. The situation in Africa is marginally different and at this point of entrepreneurship in Africa, the continent should not feel obligated to compete with the rest of the world. Motsepe stated that what the continent needs currently, is more real contribution than anything else.



“There are 300 million young people between the ages 15-25 on the African continent. We have to connect with them. We have to be where they are. We have to hear what they say. The future for Africa is exciting and beautiful.”



According to the African Development Bank, 22% of Africa’s working-age population are starting businesses. The report further stated that this is the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world.



“The best ideas are not sitting in some corporate office,” Motsepe told the delegates in the audience.



“The hardest part of any venture is when you start. Because when you succeed, success perpetuates itself. There’s money available for opportunities, but they have to be profitable and sustainable. If it’s not profitable, try something else.”

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final Draw

‘It’s Africa’s Time… And It’s An Exceptional Time’: Billionaire Patrice Motsepe

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Elon Musk sold more than 4.4 million shares of electric car company Tesla earlier this week for just under $4 billion, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings released Thursday evening, shortly after the billionaire Tesla CEO agreed to buy Twitter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The sales took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, at prices ranging between about $872 and $999 per share,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001318605/000089924322015923/xslF345X03/doc4.xml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001318605/000089924322015924/xslF345X03/doc4.xml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regulatory</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001318605/000089924322015949/xslF345X03/doc4.xml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filings</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001318605/000089924322015942/xslF345X03/doc4.xml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>.



Musk still owns more than 168 million shares of Tesla.



Shortly after the sales were disclosed, Musk&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1519850299757846530" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>: “No further TSLA sales planned after today.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$246.2 billion. That’s Musk’s net worth, according to&nbsp;Forbes’ estimates. His stakes in Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX account for most of his wealth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Twitter’s board of directors&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2022/04/25/twitter-elon-musk-takeover-bid-deal-43-billion-54-20/?sh=7dd98932b680">agreed Monday</a>&nbsp;to sell the company to Musk, wrapping up a dramatic period that began with Musk buying up 9.2% of Twitter and later making an unsolicited bid to purchase the entire social media company at a valuation of $44 billion. The deal—which still needs to be approved by Twitter’s shareholders—<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-25/musk-s-21-billion-mystery-where-will-he-get-cash-for-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">will require Musk</a>&nbsp;to come up with some cash: The billionaire offered to pay for Twitter using $21 billion in equity financing, in addition to more than $20 billion in loans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



Shares of Tesla have fallen more than 12% this week, closing at $877.51 Thursday. Some <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/04/26/why-elon-musk-is-already-26-billion-poorer-because-hes-buying-twitter/?sh=6411f8ea7977">analysts think</a> the sliding share prices are tied to Musk’s commitment to buying Twitter, which could distract the Tesla CEO and force him to sell part of his stake in the company.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/"></a>By Joe Walsh, Forbes Staff

Category: Billionaires

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