Elon Musk Twitter account displayed on a phone screen and Twitter logo displayed on a screen in the background are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on November 22, 2022.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said Sunday that the last few months have been “extremely tough,” but said the social media company is “now trending to breakeven.” CNBC was not able to independently verify this claim.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said in a tweet that he has had to “save Twitter from bankruptcy” while also fulfilling his roles at his other companies.
“Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone,” he wrote. “Twitter still has challenges, but it is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!”
Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Since acquiring the company for $44 billion late last year, it’s been a rocky takeover for “Mr. Tweet,” a nickname Musk recently embraced.
According to tech newsletter Platformer, Twitter’s daily revenue was down 40% year-over-year in January 2023, and hundreds of Twitter’s top advertisers have halted or pulled back on spending. One firm estimated that Twitter’s ad revenue decline was as steep as 70% in December, year-over-year, Reuters reported.
Some of the changes that Musk implemented at Twitter, like restoring the accounts of controversial figures including neo-Nazi website founder Andrew Anglin, resulted in brands’ departure from the platform, and an outcry from civil rights leaders.
Musk acknowledged in a November tweet that the company suffered a “massive drop in revenue” after advertisers paused spending on the social media platform.
At the end of 2022, Musk claimed that Twitter was no longer “in the fast lane to bankruptcy,” but it still wasn’t “secure” during an episode of the All-In Podcast with long-time friends of his, who are also investors in Twitter, angel investor Jason Calacanis and Craft Ventures co-founder and…
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