Elon Musk’s investment in X, the former Twitter, has seen a significant decline in value, now amounting to less than a third of the original purchase price of $44 billion, as reported by Axios based on disclosures from Fidelity, a key player in facilitating the acquisition.
Fidelity further reduced the valuation of its X holding by an additional 11% as of the end of November, according to the latest portfolio update for its Blue Chip Growth Fund. This ongoing series of markdowns reflects the challenges faced by the ad-funded company, which struggled to attract advertisers in 2023.
Following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in late October 2022, the platform underwent substantial transformations, including layoffs, closure of international offices, and revisions to moderation policies and verification systems. These changes adversely affected the platform’s appeal to advertisers, with estimated ad sales revenue for 2023 projected at $2.5 billion, significantly below the prior rate of approximately $1 billion per quarter, as reported by Bloomberg News last month.
In November, Musk made headlines by telling advertisers who abandoned X due to his endorsement of an antisemitic post to “f— themselves.” Earlier that month, Musk endorsed a post asserting that Jewish people harbored a “dialectical hatred” of white people, drawing criticism from the White House and Tesla investors. Major corporate spenders, including Walt Disney Co and Apple, distanced themselves from the platform.
