Twitter expected to reject Elon Musk's offer

Apollo, one of the world’s largest buyout firms, has held discussions about backing a possible deal for Twitter and could provide Mr. Musk or another bidder like private-equity firm Thoma Bravo LP with equity or debt to support an offer, the people said.

Apollo, which owns Yahoo, has also been evaluating potential cooperation between the online-media company and Twitter, the people said. There is no guarantee Twitter would be receptive to that, or any other deal.

Twitter is expected to rebuff Mr. Musk’s offer in the coming days, some of the people said. The company is set to report earnings April 28 and may detail its stance then.