Elon Musk Says Advertisers That Have Left X Shouldn’t Come Back

Topline

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said advertisers that have recently fled the X platform following an antisemitic tweet Musk approved of should not return, claiming advertisers doing so are “blackmailing” him with money and should “go f***” themselves—making the expletive-laden statement during an interview Wednesday at the New York Times’ Dealbook Summit.

Musk bought Twitter last year for $44 billion. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York … [+] Times)

Getty Images for The New York Times

Key Facts

Musk, who arrived late to the summit, said “Hey Bob,” referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger, after expressing his frustration over advertisers, such as Disney, dropping ads.

Musk also apologized for engaging with the tweet, saying it was “one of the most foolish things” he’s done on the platform and that he handed a “loaded gun” to the people who hate him.

The tech billionaire said that if an advertising boycott led to the financial failure of X, he believes the public would support him in blaming advertisers, which have left the platform en masse, leading to a 55% decline in ad revenue year-over-year since last October, according to Reuters.

Surprising Fact

Speaking on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the leadership shakeup at the ChatGPT developer, Musk said he has “mixed feelings” about Altman, adding he doesn’t know why Altman was ousted from the company and is concerned that OpenAI discovered a dangerous element of AI. Musk said he agreed to speak at the summit because he was a longtime friend of its host, Andrew Ross Sorkin, whom Musk misnamed during the interview.

Big Number

$16.9 billion. That’s how much X was valued at as of Aug. 31, based on data from Fidelity. The financial services firm estimates its small stake in the social media platform has fallen dramatically in value over the past year—though Fidelity doesn’t necessarily have inside information on X.

Key Background

Musk acquired Twitter a little more than a year ago in a massive $44 billion deal following a string of legal battles. The Tesla chief rebranded the social media platform to X, later planning to build it into an “everything app” equipped with financial and additional communication features for users. The platform has gone through a swath of growing pains in its first year amid Musk’s ambitions for the company. More than 6,000 employees were laid off at the company this year, some of which worked on content moderation and media relations. Many advertisers also left X after Musk’s acquisition, contributing to an ad revenue decline that Musk acknowledged in September, when he tweeted X’s U.S. advertising revenue was “still down 60%.” Musk said the decline was due to pressure on advertisers by the Anti-Defamation League, threatening to sue the organization for defamation. Banks such as Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Barclays, which loaned Musk money for his Twitter acquisition, are expected to lose $2 billion when they unload the debt, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Musk to be worth $248.2 billion as of Wednesday afternoon, making him the wealthiest person in the world.