--- title: "Twitter Apparently Lost $1.5 Billion in Ad Revenue as Elon Musk Flailed" description: "The site formerly known as Twitter continues to lose ad revenue hand over fist under Elon Musk's ownership." date: "2023-12-14" modified: "2023-12-14" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/twitter-billions-ad-losses" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "advertising" - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Twitter Apparently Lost $1.5 Billion in Ad Revenue as Elon Musk Flailed ![The site formerly known as Twitter continues to lose ad revenue hand over fist under Elon Musk's ownership.]() *\Image: Michael M. Santiago via Getty / Futurism\* ## FKA Twitter The site formerly known as Twitter continues to lose ad revenue hand over fist under Elon Musk's ownership, making the differences between "X" and "Twitter" all the more apparent. "We are not Twitter any longer and not measuring ourselves by old Twitter metrics — both in revenue and user metrics," Joe Benarroch, X's head of business operations, [told *Bloomberg*]() when asked about the massive, continuing ad revenue drop since Musk took over. According to *Bloomberg*'s insider sources, the company is projected to bring in about $2.5 billion in ad revenue for this year — a "significant slump" compared to the past two years. Indeed, the platform's [2021 revenue reporting]() indicated that it brought in a whopping $4.5 billion in ad dollars in 2021. We don't have solid numbers for last year because the company stopped publicly sharing its financials after Musk took it private in October 2022, but the company reported $2.18 billion in ad revenue in the [first six months of that year]() alone. All told, the site is projected to bring in $3.4 billion *total* revenue in 2023, per *Bloomberg*, which includes subscription sales and licensing deals. Considering that it [made more than $5 billion]() in 2021 and that former CEO Jack Dorsey set a public goal to [reach $7.5 billion]() by the end of 2023 — you know, before he [dipped out]() and the site [got sold to Musk]() — these projections really drive home how far the site has fallen in just a few years. ## Mighty Fall In many ways, it's hard not to see Musk's chaotic ownership of the social network as anything but a cautionary tale. Before 2022 was even over, the [veritable exodus]() of [spooked advertisers]() had already begun. Little did we know, things were going to get much, much worse. Things took a turn for the worse last month when the South African-born business magnate really put his foot in it by agreeing with a gross antisemitic conspiracy theory that he referred to as "[the actual truth]()" on X. Musk also infamously [told advertisers to go "fuck" themselves]() last month after major brands including Apple and Disney pulled out of advertising on the platform following Musk's antisemitic tweet. In short, it's a sorry state of affairs. Maybe its executives are right to differentiate it from Twitter after all, considering that the hellsite we all used to love to hate is now a shell of its former self. **More on X/Twitter/whatever:** [*Elon Musk Says CEO of Disney Should Be Fired, Seemingly for Hurting His Feelings*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()