Elon Musk's social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), is reportedly valued at just $19 billion, down from the $44 billion he paid for it in October of the previous year. Musk's controversial changes to the platform and his outspoken presence have led to a drop in advertising revenue, with X reportedly losing at least half of its total ad revenue. The company owes around $1.2 billion in interest payments on its $13 billion in total debt. Musk has emphasized his reliance on paid user subscriptions, but less than 1% of the user base has subscribed. X aims to become an "everything app" and may integrate cryptocurrency in the future.


Elon Musk's social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), has lost over half of its value in a year, according to an internal memo and sources familiar with the matter. The memo reportedly reveals that restricted stock units recently paid to employees of the company were valued at $45 a share, putting the company's value at around $19 billion. Musk acquired the platform for $44 billion in October of the previous year.


Since taking over the platform, Musk has made a series of controversial moves, including rebranding it to X, changing content rules, and laying off approximately 80% of the company's workforce. These drastic changes, along with Musk's outspoken presence on the platform, have made the company less popular with advertisers, leading to a significant drop in advertising revenue. X has reportedly lost at least half of its total ad revenue.


The decline in revenue has raised concerns about servicing Musk's debt, as X owes around $1.2 billion in interest payments on its roughly $13 billion in total debt. While Musk has expressed a desire to rely more on paid user subscriptions, less than 1% of the platform's total user base has opted for a premium subscription, generating less than $120 million in annual revenue.


Despite the challenges, some have seen benefits to Musk's tenure at the company. One of the popular additions to the platform under Musk has been paying individual creators for their engagement through revenue-sharing payments. Musk has also announced that posts corrected by the Community Notes feature would become "ineligible for revenue share," prioritizing accurate information over viral and potentially inaccurate content.


Musk has repeatedly stated his intention to turn X into an "everything app," inspired by super apps popular in Asia, such as WeChat. This expansion would include a range of financial services, video calls, and other lifestyle use cases. There are hopes that X may integrate cryptocurrency in some way in the future.

(TOM MITCHELHILL, COINTELEGRAPH, 2023)