Elon Musk says Twitter is ‘trending to breakeven’ after close to chapter

Twitter CEO Elon Musk stated Sunday that the previous couple of months have been “extraordinarily robust,” however stated the social media firm is “now trending to breakeven.” CNBC was not in a position to independently confirm this declare.

Musk, who can also be CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said in a tweet that he has needed to “save Twitter from chapter” whereas additionally fulfilling his roles at his different corporations.

“Would not want that ache on anybody,” he wrote. “Twitter nonetheless has challenges, however it’s now trending to breakeven if we preserve at it. Public help is far appreciated!”

Twitter and Musk didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for remark.

Since buying the corporate for $44 billion late final 12 months, it has been a rocky takeover for “Mr. Tweet,” a nickname Musk not too long ago embraced.

In keeping with tech publication Platformer, Twitter’s each day income was down 40% year-over-year in January 2023, and a whole lot of Twitter’s high advertisers have halted or pulled again on spending. One agency estimated that Twitter’s advert income decline was as steep as 70% in December, year-over-year, Reuters reported.

A few of the modifications that Musk applied at Twitter, like restoring the accounts of controversial figures together with neo-Nazi web site founder Andrew Anglin, resulted in manufacturers’ 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.

On the finish of 2022, Musk claimed that Twitter was not “within the quick lane to chapter,” but it surely nonetheless wasn’t “safe” throughout an episode of the All-In Podcast with long-time buddies of his, who’re additionally traders in Twitter, angel investor Jason Calacanis and Craft Ventures co-founder and companion David Sacks.

Twitter has been sued for failure to pay numerous companions, distributors and former staff since Elon Musk took over. In a single instance, Florida-based Non-public Jet Providers sued Twitter for failure to pay $197,725 for its transportation providers. In one other case, the owner of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters workplace sued the company after it allegedly did not pay round $6.8 million in lease in December and January.

Below Musk’s administration, Twitter has slashed headcount by way of mass layoffs, different terminations and inside modifications that compelled many to resign, together with the tip of a work-from-home forever policy that was put in place beneath former CEO Jack Dorsey.

Labor lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan has filed a whole lot of calls for for arbitration and a proposed class motion lawsuit in opposition to Twitter on behalf of affected staff. In keeping with a January tweet, she is arguing that former Twitter staff who have been laid off or pressured to resign are owed extra severance than Musk’s staff supplied them.

Moreover slicing prices, the corporate has tried to drum up new traces of income or earnings. Twitter auctioned off every part from kitchen supplies to office equipment in January of this 12 months.

The corporate additionally launched — and relaunched —  an up to date Twitter Blue subscription service in December, after Musk had pulled and delayed the service in November. Musk determined, extra not too long ago, to cost researchers for access to the company’s API and to cast off all free entry to it.

The centi-billionaire has confronted vital shareholder backlash at Tesla for being distracted, for borrowing talent from Tesla to assist him at Twitter, for stirring up political controversy at Twitter, and for promoting billions of {dollars} value of his Tesla shares to finance his Twitter takeover.

In a tweet Sunday, one Twitter consumer expressed concern about how a lot Musk has had on his plate.

“I am apprehensive about me too,” Musk wrote in response.