Apollo, Sixth Street no longer in talks to finance Twitter deal - report

Sources had previously told Reuters that Apollo had been in talks to provide preferred equity financing for the deal, alongside Sixth Street. It was understood that Apollo, Sixth Street and other investors were looking to commit more than $1bn in financing for the deal at the time.

In reply to tweets saying that neither entities were part of the $7.1bn of third-party equity financing announced in early May, nor part of the debt financing, Musk said: "correct".

Sources told Reuters that these talks ended months ago around the time Musk started having second thoughts about the deal. Musk initially proposed the buyout in April before backtracking in July and then reversing course again earlier this week.

Musk and Twitter are now attempting to reach an agreement after months of litigation. Musk began to dispute the number of spam accounts on Twitter, arguing that it was likely far higher than the social media company's stated 5%. In May he said the deal was on temporary on hold over his concerns, before announcing he was walking away in July.

Reuters said Musk is expected to provide much of the $44bn through funds he raised by selling down his stake in Tesla and by leaning on equity financing from large investors. In addition, major banks have committed to provide $12.5bn of debt financing.