Report: Advertising Is Way Down at X

Analysts say Musk might have to sell Tesla shares to keep platform afloat
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2024 1:25 PM CDT
Report: Advertising Is Way Down at X
An "X" sign rests atop the former Twitter headquarters in San Francisco.   (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Elon Musk apparently hasn't had much success luring advertisers back to X. Quartz reports that according to MediaRadar, a company that tracks ad spending, advertising on the platform in the first half of this year is down 24% year-on-year. Advertisers reportedly spent around $744 million on the platform in the first six months of 2024, down from more than $982 million in the same period of 2023. Earlier this month, the company sued an ad industry coalition, alleging that members violated antitrust laws by boycotting the platform after Musk bought it in late 2022.

The continued drop in advertising highlights the problem of falling revenue at X, where advertising accounts for around 90% of revenue, Quartz reports. Earlier this year, mutual fund Fidelity estimated that the platform had lost 71% of its value since Musk acquired it for $44 billion. He sold some of his Tesla stock to finance the buy and analysts believe he may have to sell more to keep X afloat, potentially bringing down Tesla's share price, Fortune reports. "I would be expecting something between $1 and $2 billion in stock," Bradford Ferguson, president of asset manager Halter Ferguson Financial, said last week. "It's a massive hole they need to plug." (More X.com stories.)

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