SCIENCE & TECH: Elon Musk’s ‘fixer’ Jared Birchall is point man for Twitter takeover: report

Elon Musk has a “fixer” who, among other jobs, has helped engineer his $44 billion takeover bid of Twitter, according to a report.

Jared Birchall, 47, is considered the right hand of the world’s richest man. The former Merrill Lynch banker manages Musk’s family office Excession LLC, which manages his $264 billion fortune, as well as Musk’s personal affairs.

He also is reported to have dug up dirt on Musk’s enemies, including British cave diver Vernon Unsworth, who sued the billionaire mogul for defamation after calling him a “pedo guy.” Unsworth helped in the rescue of Thai children trapped in a cave in 2018.

Birchall made news earlier this week when he told an associate that Twitter’s move to ban Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was “insane,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Birchall was also the man who led negotiations with several investors who have committed to put down more than $7 billion in equity to buy Twitter, according to Bloomberg News.

Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange which has pledged $500 million toward Musk’s takeover bid, said it dealt with Birchall during the process. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, the seventh richest person with a net worth valued at $105.7 billion. is willing to invest $1 billion, while Sequoia has pledged $800 million, an SEC filing shows.

Birchall’s job description also includes managing Musk’s hectic personal and professional schedule. It is Birchall who must arrange for Musk’s travels via private jet as well as the security detail for the billionaire.

Birchall is also tasked with hiring nannies to care for Musk’s children. Musk and Canadian pop singer Grimes are parents to two kids ages two and two months. Musk also has five other children from his previous marriage to Canadian author Justine Wilson.

According to Bloomberg, Birchall started his career in finance at Goldman Sachs after graduating from Brigham Young University.

In 2000, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he took a job working for Merrill Lynch in its private wealth division. A regulatory filing stated that Birchall was fired from Merrill Lynch for “sending correspondence to a client without management approval.”

In 2010, he was hired by Morgan Stanley, where he developed a reputation for knowing how to handle wealthy people’s fortunes, according to Bloomberg.

Birchall also helps Musk juggle the management of his companies — Tesla, SpaceX, brain implant firm Neuralink, and The Boring Company — as well as a vast real estate portfolio that includes properties in California. At one point Birchall was even listed as the CEO of Neuralink, although Musk appears to have taken over the role more recently.

For his work, it has been reported that Birchall pulls down a salary of between $1 million and $3 million per year.

When Tesla opened up a major factory in Austin, Texas, Musk relocated his family office there also. Birchall also pulled up stakes and bought a $2.25 million home in Austin in 2020, according to Bloomberg.

In 2018, Birchall was ordered by Musk to find damaging information about Unsworth, who slammed Musk’s suggestion to use a SpaceX submarine to rescue the trapped boys in Thailand.

Birchall testified in court that he hired a con man who claimed to be a private investigator.

Musk won in court and was found not liable for defamation.