Musk's Twitter Acquisition: A Three-Year Review

Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter has been marred by controversy, failed promises, and a significant loss of users. Despite Musk's initial claims that the acquisition was to "try to help humanity," his actions have instead thrust the platform into the center of far-right hate and conspiracy theories. As a result, many of the platform's blue-chip advertisers have fled, and Musk has been accused of stoking violent protests, including rioting in the UK.

Key Takeaways:

Musk's initial promises to double revenues and triple users within three years have not been met, with X losing about one-fifth of its US users and one-third of its UK users in 2023-24 alone.
The platform now generates revenue primarily through premium memberships, with top users earning millions per month for their posts.
Blue-chip advertisers have largely abandoned the platform, citing Musk's decision to reallow far-right influencers and conspiracy theorists.
Musk's debt burden has been offset by the launch of the AI company xAI, which "bought" X in March at a 25% drop in value, or $33 billion.
Despite being a huge underperformer, Musk's acquisition of Twitter through xAI has provided him with significant influence and power, particularly in the global far-right agenda.

Statistics:

X lost about one-fifth of its US users and one-third of its UK users in 2023-24 alone (Similarweb).
The platform has a new revenue stream from premium memberships, with top users earning millions per month for their posts.
Musk's acquisition of Twitter through xAI was valued at $33 billion, a 25% drop from the original $44 billion purchase price.
xAI owns assets with a tangible value, including chips, making AI a safer financial bet than a social network.
At its peak, Twitter had about 931 million users.

Sources:

Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company.
Elon Musk's open letter to Twitter advertisers (Twitter).
Ross Gerber, investment manager and former Musk cheerleader.