Musk's plans to purchase Twitter for $44 billion with the help of foreign investors, including Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, and Binance Holdings which was founded by a Chinese businessman, have concerned Biden administration officials, the people told Bloomberg.
The government was considering which tools they could use to review Musk's deals, the people added. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US , which is run by the US Treasury Department and reviews foreign buyers' acquisitions of American businesses, could be an option, per Bloomberg. The CFIUS carries out security reviews if a"transaction threatens to impair the national security of the United States," according toWhen reviewing a transaction, the CFIUS can recommend to President Joe Biden that the deal be suspended or prohibited, per the regulations.
If the Twitter deal is reviewed by CFIUS for national security reasons, as reported by Bloomberg, Biden has the ability to stop the acquisition from going ahead. Musk requested the deal be called off earlier. Presidents have killed deals in the past. In 2019, former President Donald Trump prohibited Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co's attempts to acquire hotel management platform StayNTouch after a recommendation from CFIUS,