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That doesn't work with Twitter, though. You can't just build stuff with total autonomy without worrying about how it'll make money when your company is in a dee

That doesn't work with Twitter, though. You can't just build stuff with total autonomy without worrying about how it'll make money when your company is in a deep, deep financial hole. Because of the way Elon bought the company it needs to make a shit-ton of money and fast. Elon can't just sidestep that responsibility by vacating the CEO role.

awestroke 4y ago
AFAIK they are not doing too bad financially any more. They've cut a lot of costs and almost all advertisers are back
- afavour 4y ago
  I haven't seen any official statements to that effect. This is from a month ago: > Last November, General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) was among the first companies to announce pausing Twitter ads. Among those that took a similar path were General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) and Volkswagen AG’s Audi unit. > Brands such as Mondelez International Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), Merck & Co Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) have also not returned to Twitter in terms of advertising as of February, Bloomberg noted. > Last month, Musk said that Twitter’s revenue had fallen by 50% since October because of a decline in advertising. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitters-revenue-drops-advertisers-voice-232344915.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitters-revenue-drops-advert... Don't forget that the company also has to pay $1.5bn a year to service the debt Musk used to buy it.
- dog321 4y ago
  Ad revenue is down 40% from $5B in 2021 to a projected $3B in 2023. For reference, most other social media ad companies have had flat or slightly negative (~2%) revenue growth. https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/04/12/twitter-s-ad-revenue-will-fall-drastically-this-year-according-to-estimates https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/04/12/twitter-s-a... https://www.statista.com/statistics/271337/twitters-advertising-revenue-worldwide/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Twitter%20generated%205.01,of%20the%20global%20ad%20revenue https://www.statista.com/statistics/271337/twitters-advertis.... https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/snap-q4-2022-earnings-revenue-snapchat-daily-users-1235508280/ https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/snap-q4-2022-earnings-...
  - mrguyorama 4y ago
    Damn, if it wasn't for the debt he dragged the company into that could actually be manageable. There is a possible steady state for twitter to be more focused on right wing minded people who don't like being told unhappy truths or have their lies questioned, like tumbler has for dumb teens. It could very well just be smaller and continue on with that "niche" because it's a big niche. But that debt really puts some limits on future options.
gyudin 4y ago
He announced that he was looking for a CEO straight after acquisition. Twitter hasn't been profitable for 11 years straight from 2006 to 2017 and even after that it revenue was relatively low. Atm company is financially break even, so I wouldn't panic much. It's kinda funny that some US advertisers left the platform after some rednecks were unbanned, yet they were totally okay with things before when Taliban and other state terrorist organizations were literally using it as an official PR platform (with huge success btw, if you read the articles of that time). Or the fact that Twitter has been flooded with porn made by teenagers. But that's typical corporate America))
- neuronexmachina 4y ago
  > Atm company is financially break even, so I wouldn't panic much. Do you have a source for this? All I can find is an interview remark from Musk about the company "roughly breaking even," without any actual numbers cited.
  - cma 4y ago
    He said profitable then clarified to cash-flow positive in the BBC interview, so likely losing money after servicing the debt he strapped them with.

awestroke 4y ago

AFAIK they are not doing too bad financially any more. They've cut a lot of costs and almost all advertisers are back

afavour 4y ago
I haven't seen any official statements to that effect. This is from a month ago: > Last November, General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) was among the first companies to announce pausing Twitter ads. Among those that took a similar path were General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) and Volkswagen AG’s Audi unit. > Brands such as Mondelez International Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), Merck & Co Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) have also not returned to Twitter in terms of advertising as of February, Bloomberg noted. > Last month, Musk said that Twitter’s revenue had fallen by 50% since October because of a decline in advertising. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitters-revenue-drops-advertisers-voice-232344915.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitters-revenue-drops-advert... Don't forget that the company also has to pay $1.5bn a year to service the debt Musk used to buy it.
dog321 4y ago
Ad revenue is down 40% from $5B in 2021 to a projected $3B in 2023. For reference, most other social media ad companies have had flat or slightly negative (~2%) revenue growth. https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/04/12/twitter-s-ad-revenue-will-fall-drastically-this-year-according-to-estimates https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/04/12/twitter-s-a... https://www.statista.com/statistics/271337/twitters-advertising-revenue-worldwide/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Twitter%20generated%205.01,of%20the%20global%20ad%20revenue https://www.statista.com/statistics/271337/twitters-advertis.... https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/snap-q4-2022-earnings-revenue-snapchat-daily-users-1235508280/ https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/snap-q4-2022-earnings-...
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  Damn, if it wasn't for the debt he dragged the company into that could actually be manageable. There is a possible steady state for twitter to be more focused on right wing minded people who don't like being told unhappy truths or have their lies questioned, like tumbler has for dumb teens. It could very well just be smaller and continue on with that "niche" because it's a big niche. But that debt really puts some limits on future options.

gyudin 4y ago

He announced that he was looking for a CEO straight after acquisition. Twitter hasn't been profitable for 11 years straight from 2006 to 2017 and even after that it revenue was relatively low. Atm company is financially break even, so I wouldn't panic much. It's kinda funny that some US advertisers left the platform after some rednecks were unbanned, yet they were totally okay with things before when Taliban and other state terrorist organizations were literally using it as an official PR platform (with huge success btw, if you read the articles of that time). Or the fact that Twitter has been flooded with porn made by teenagers. But that's typical corporate America))

neuronexmachina 4y ago
> Atm company is financially break even, so I wouldn't panic much. Do you have a source for this? All I can find is an interview remark from Musk about the company "roughly breaking even," without any actual numbers cited.
- cma 4y ago
  He said profitable then clarified to cash-flow positive in the BBC interview, so likely losing money after servicing the debt he strapped them with.