Reports show that Elon Musk's X is paced in the first year of revenue ad growth rate as billionaires took over Twitter as their relationship with the White House boosted their business.
X is projected to generate $13.1 billion in US advertising sales in 2025. This is expected to increase by 17.5% from the previous year. Bloomberg reported.
Global advertising sales are estimated to increase by $2.26 billion this year, up 16.5%, according to Emarketer.
“We've seen some of the big advertisers come back to get favor with the Trump administration, so some of the growth in spending is really driven by fear,” Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at the emercater, told Bloomberg.
X's business is still smaller than before the acquisition of Mask.
The company reported $4.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2021, its final year as a public company.
After Musk dismantled its content regulation team, many advertisers have made the promise to escape X and turn the site into a “free speech” platform.
But other social media giants have followed suit, like Mark Zuckerberg's meta.
“It's more recognised that even if it's not accepted, it's inevitable,” Enberg said.
Enberg also said that some advertisers may be returning to X due to fears of legal action after Musk sued major advertisers like LEGO and Nestlé and condemned ad boycott campaigns.
Other advertisers left the platform in 2023 after the billionaire responded to anti-Semitic posts on the platform.
The X-account posted that the Jewish community is pushing “hatred of white people who claim that people want to stop using it against them” and “a disturbing perception that the hordes of minority flooding their country are not exactly the same as them.”
Musk replied: “You told the truth.”
IBM, Apple and Disney quickly paused their spending as some ads began to appear next to a flood of anti-Semitistic posts on their platforms.
X faced a potential of $75 million in advertising revenue losses. According to the New York Times.
In November 2023, Musk railed at the New York Times dealbook summit.
“If anyone is trying to blackmail me with an ad, blackmail me with money.
He then added: “Includes Bob,” a clear reference to Igar who was in the audience.
