Banks cash in on Elon Musk's Twitter spree

Morgan Stanley takes center stage on $13bn deal

Investment bank to pocket millions after helping Musk clinch agreement to buy social media giant

That's great news for Morgan Stanley, the investment bank of choice for Elon Musk. When Twitter's board agreed to sell the company to Elon Musk last week, one Wall Street bank was at the heart of the action. Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street investment bank, was instrumental in helping Musk line up the financing for the deal.

When banks led by Morgan Stanley agreed in April to help finance Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, they expected to pocket a hefty fee. But few could have predicted that the deal would eventually be worth $13bn (£10.5bn), making it one of the biggest tech takeovers in history.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase Co, and the boutique investment bank Allen & Co also worked on the transaction. But Morgan Stanley was the lead bank, and it will therefore receive the largest fee.

Elon Musk's $44bn takeover of Twitter was meant to be one of the ultimate bounties for Wall Street.