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They've cut out things like viewing who liked a tweet etc (for cost savings I suspect) so the site is probably dirt cheap. Can't imagine ads don't pay for the c
by nuz 2y ago
They've cut out things like viewing who liked a tweet etc (for cost savings I suspect) so the site is probably dirt cheap. Can't imagine ads don't pay for the cost of running servers at this point, and a headcount reduction might bring it to profitability.
- kryptiskt 2y agoThe ads may pay for the servers and reduced headcount[1], but there is no way that they pay for servicing the $10B of high-interest debt that the company was saddled with. [1] Though with the NYT reporting that the American ad revenues was down 80% to $114M/quarter since the acquisition it might not be so obvious.
- jrpelkonen 2y agoYes, the debt weighs heavily around their neck. If it eventually ends up in bankruptcy, will Elon Musk lose control of his beloved x.com domain name for the second time?
- rahkiin 2y agoHe’ll probably sell x.com to himself just before that happens
- zinekeller 2y agoI would imagine that it was set up so that it is rented from Musk (instead of owning* outright), but it's Musk so who knows. * I know it's still not owned owned but there is still a legal difference between X Corp directly renting x.com (from Verisign) versus leasing x.com by a different owner (maybe Musk, maybe a holding corp) to X Corp.
- chuckadams 2y agoHe’ll probably name his next kid X. His history at PayPal shows how obsessed he is with that letter.
- deeth_starr_v 2y agoHe calls his first kid with Grimes X
- ninininino 2y agoAlready happened https://twitter.com/Garossino/status/1817220477427093963 https://twitter.com/Garossino/status/1817220477427093963
- queuebert 2y agoMaybe they could declare bankruptcy and sell for pennies on the dollar to a mysterious new holding company: Ksum Nole, LLC.
- seanhunter 2y agoThat's not how a bankruptcy works. In a bankruptcy, the company is owned by the creditors and gets resolved by them. Usually a business will attempt to avoid bankruptcy by filing Chapter 11[1] or similar so they get to propose a plan for restructuring that will pay back the creditors over time, but their actions as debtor in posession are scrutinized by the US trustee to ensure they meet a fiduciary obligation to the debtors, and the debtors can file a court case to appeal both the chap 11 and can try to get the debtor kicked out and a trustee appointed if they aren't acting in their interests. [1] https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/chapter-11-bankruptcy-basics https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptc...
- arresin 2y agoNah uh. Mr Ksum would find a way.
- queuebert 2y agoYes, I know. It was a joke.
- sebastiennight 2y agoQuick heads-up: I think you've written "debtor" instead of "creditor" a couple times in there.
- runako 2y ago> American ad revenues was down 80% to $114M/quarter since the acquisition Debt service was estimated at ~$100m/mo, with the likelihood that rates on some of the debt could increase substantially since the financing was initially booked in mid 2022. If these numbers are directionally accurate (and they do not report, so we don't know for sure), this thing is probably closer to losing a billion $ annually than to breakeven.
- mistrial9 2y ago> Debt service was estimated at ~$100m/mo source?
- runako 2y agoMany sources for this, including: https://www.thestreet.com/technology/elon-musk-has-a-huge-twitter-debt-bill https://www.thestreet.com/technology/elon-musk-has-a-huge-tw... and https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/30/technology/elon-musk-twitter-debt.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/30/technology/elon-musk-twit... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-03/twitter-said-to-make-second-interest-payment-on-musk-buyout-debt?sref=Bgsklk5a https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-03/twitter-s... If you don't like my choice of sources, any popular search engine will help you surface additional sources.
- dragontamer 2y ago$13 Billion leveraged buyout means that Twitter took on $13 Billion in loans for the privilege of being bought out by Elon. Assuming a rough interest rate of 10% to 15%, leaves 100million to 150million / month on debt alone.
- throwaway2037 2y ago> Assuming a rough interest rate of 10% to 15% Do you have a source on this? I couldn't find anything.
- dragontamer 2y ago
- citizenkeen 2y agoI will wager a box of donuts the like-hiding was due to some combination of politics and Musk’s embarrassment for being called out every time he liked some cringe porn-adjacent tweet.
- dragontamer 2y agoThe issue is the $13 Billion loans and estimated $1.3 Billion/year interest payments. I'm sure Elon can wipe those out himself, but it's still a lot of money that isn't accounted for. Twitter cannot merely float at barely profitability. Twitter needs at least $1.3 Billion/year to counteract interest payments.
- throwaway2037 2y agoElon can either directly pay the loans himself, or lend money to Twitter/X.
- dragontamer 2y agoHe could, but hasn't done so yet. Instead, Elon continues to make decisions like closing Twitters headquarters.
- wonderwonder 2y agoI actually don't think the removal of like views has anything to do with revenue. I think they actually did this so users are free to like whatever they want without having to worry about getting vilified for liking something that is not supported by the majority. For example liking something political or anti whatever.
- chii 2y agowhich i think is a good thing - but i wish there's a toggle to allow the user to choose. Sometimes i find interesting twitter accounts or posts through likes, and that's now gone.