Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has turned into the banks’ most unsuccessful buyout financing deal since the 2008 financial crisis, according to The Wall Street Journal. Here are the key points:

– Musk secured $13 billion in loans for the Twitter deal, which remain on the balance sheets of the seven banks involved, including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Barclays.
– It has been 22 months since these loans were issued without being sold—marking the longest unsold debt financing since the Great Financial Crisis.
– Although banks initially viewed the deal favorably, the poor performance of Twitter has led to significant write-downs on the value of the loans.
– The debt has constrained banks’ abilities to fund other mergers, affecting overall lending and causing M&A bankers’ compensation to drop by 40% in 2023 compared to 2022.
– While the loans generate revenue through interest payments, lenders still anticipate a $2 billion loss, as Twitter’s financial struggles persist, with a reported 40% revenue decline in the first half of 2023.