In a surprising turn of events, Elon Musk’s venture into the social media realm, particularly his acquisition of Twitter, now known as X, has taken a severe hit. The Fidelity investment fund has once again devalued X’s stock, leaving the social network with a mere $12.5 billion valuation.
Elon Musk’s grand ambitions of striking gold and amassing wealth through the acquisition of Twitter seem to have hit a roadblock. In October 2022, the South African entrepreneur purchased Twitter for a whopping $44 billion. However, since then, the social media platform has witnessed a staggering decline of 71.5% in its value.
By the end of 2023, an internal memo from X revealed that the social network was attributing itself a value of only $19 billion. This was less than half of what Elon Musk paid for the platform. Simultaneously, Fidelity, the investment fund that assisted Tesla’s CEO in finalizing the Twitter acquisition, valued its shares in the social network even lower, placing X’s market price between $15 billion and $16 billion.
According to recent information reported by Axios, Fidelity has once again devalued the price of its X shares, bringing the current valuation of the social network to a mere $12.5 billion. This reevaluation by Fidelity includes a sharp 10.7% drop in X’s (formerly Twitter) value that occurred in November 2023.
Since Elon Musk took the reins of X in October 2022, the social network has faced numerous challenges. Major advertisers, including Walmart, IBM, and NBCUniversal, severed ties with X due to prevalent hate speech on the platform. Following the departure of these advertisers, Elon Musk did not hesitate to publicly express his disdain, stating, “Go fuck yourself” in an interview. Furthermore, Twitter’s owner came under scrutiny in November for providing support to an anti-Semitic post on X.
Controversy has surrounded Musk’s decision to reinstate previously suspended accounts on Twitter, including those of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, former U.S. President Donald Trump, rapper Kanye West, and Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has disseminated misinformation about the coronavirus on multiple occasions.
The significant changes implemented in recent months on the social network, such as making verification badges a paid feature and introducing a paywall for functionalities that were once entirely free, have also sparked anger among many Twitter users. These alterations have added to the challenges faced by X under Elon Musk’s leadership, contributing to the platform’s declining value and raising questions about its future in the ever-evolving landscape of social media.
