Twitter and Musk

Tsing Tao · Jul 30, 2024

gwb-trading said:
So much for "free speech absolutism". Musk is regularly shutting down accounts on Twitter which support Democrats.

White Dudes for Harris X account is suspended with organizer saying Elon Musk ‘got scared’ by $4m fundraiser
‘Got @elonmusk scared,’ organizer Ross Morales Rocketto wrote on his personal X account along with a screenshot showing the account’s suspension
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-for-harris-x-account-elon-musk-b2588164.html
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Account seems to be working just fine.

Meanwhile, the NPC is quiet on Facebook, Instagram and Google doing similar, and far more permanently.

gwb-trading · Jul 30, 2024

gwb-trading said:
Let's check in with how things are going at X/Twitter as revenue continues to massively decline and Yaccarino is urged to quit to preserve what little industry reputation she has left.

X saw 53 percent Q2 revenue decline while friends ‘have begged’ CEO Linda Yaccarino to quit
https://awfulannouncing.com/twitter/x-revenue-ceo-linda-yaccarino-begged-quit.html

One of the fascinating questions around X (formerly Twitter) is if the business can keep going despite advertisers (including many in sports) leaving in droves. That’s a key part of the many things discussed in a new New York Times profile piece on X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who suddenly left a role as chair of global advertising and partnerships at NBC last May (just ahead of their upfronts) to take the top executive role at the social media service under owner Elon Musk. And that piece has a lot of uncomplimentary things to say about the state of X’s business, especially on the advertising front.

The advertising element of X is particularly notable on a few fronts. For one, it’s highly related to Yaccarino’s previous background, which includes 19 years at what was then Turner (including time as executive vice president and chief operating officer of advertising sales, marketing, and acquisitions) and then more than 11 years at NBC in roles ranging from president, cable entertainment and digital advertising sales up through her eventual chair of global advertising role. For another, it’s a key part of what was working for the company before Musk’s 2022 acquisition of Twitter for $43 billion (which actually came that October after he tried to back out of the deal and was forced into it by a lawsuit from the board).

Beyond that, advertising is one of the specific areas where Musk-era X is far different from its predecessor Twitter. And it’s an area where it’s been particularly under fire, including in sports, with many big sports broadcasters pausing advertising or pulling out altogether last fall after Musk’s lackluster response to their content being shown next to antisemitic posts. So that makes some of the discussion in that Times piece (from the Times‘ Kate Conger, with files from Ryan Mac, Benjamin Mullin, David McCabe and Sapna Maheshwari) quite significant. To start with, here’s what it says about revenue, with the outside advertising estimate previously reported on but the internal documents new to the public (and keep in mind that under Musk, X is not a public company, so its revenue numbers are not regularly reported):

The company’s business has struggled in recent months, as advertisers remain hesitant. Since Mr. Musk took the company private, it no longer publicly reports its earnings, but Emarketer, a market research agency, estimated that last year, X lost about 52 percent of its U.S. advertising revenue, which dropped to $1.13 billion. The firm predicted X’s losses would slow to a 2.5 percent decrease this year.

X executives told employees last month that 65 percent of advertisers had reactivated their campaigns, although they appeared to be spending less than they once did. Internal documents obtained by The New York Times show that, in the second quarter of this year, X earned $114 million in revenue in the United States, a 25 percent decline from the first quarter and a 53 percent decline from the previous year. The company aims to reach $190 million in U.S. revenue during the third quarter, bolstered by advertising associated with the Olympics, football and political campaigns, the documents said — but that target would still set the company’s quarterly earnings at 25 percent less than they were last year.

Yes, it wouldn’t be surprising if X does see significant Q2 to Q3 growth given the Olympics, politics, and the NFL this summer and fall. But it’s fascinating to see that target still so far below what they got last year, especially as election year political ad revenue tends to be light years ahead of other years. Those numbers speak to the discussion of Yaccarino’s overall struggle in her attempts to rebuild X’s image as a respectable place for advertisers undermined by Musk, as outlined in the rest of the piece.

There’s a lot of that. The piece opens with a discussion of how Yaccarino specifically recruited Don Lemon to be one of the first big names to do a video show on X, with that starting with an interview with Musk, and with Musk then canceling the deal after he disliked how the interview went. Beyond that, there’s a lot of talk about Yaccarino’s attempts to appeal to and bring back advertisers concerned with antisemitism on the platform last fall, only for Musk’s tweets to blow those efforts up. (What he did Friday by sharing a highly-manipulated version of a Kamala Harris ad might add to those issues.) And Musk’s specific appearance at The New York Times‘ DealBook summit last November, where he profanely told advertisers X didn’t need them, is cited as a particular problem.

There’s some praise for Yaccarino’s efforts to manage Musk. Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel (it should be noted his company is an investor in X) tells Conger “The mark of a good C.E.O. is not how many punches you can throw, but how many you can take. She is the Muhammad Ali of C.E.O.s,” while others praise how she convinced Musk to attend a private dinner with insiders after that DealBook summit and repair some of the damage done by his public remarks.

There is some criticism for Yaccarino here as well. Some question her CODE appearance last fall and inability to handle criticism there from former Twitter executive Yoel Roth, while others point out that her words often don’t mean much with Musk quickly countering them publicly. But regardless of one’s opinion on Yaccarino, perhaps the more remarkable thing here is the relaying of comments from her friends telling her to leave the company, as well as advertising executives calling on her to exit on a conference call last fall:

Some of Mr. Musk’s friends have counseled her on how she should interact with the willful billionaire, or even offered to act as an intermediary with him. More strikingly, some of her friends and former colleagues have begged her to quit.

“You have to know this about Linda: Quitting equals failure, and Linda cannot allow herself to fail,” said Lou Paskalis, a longtime ad executive and friend who has publicly criticized her decision to work for Mr. Musk. “She is cashing in her sterling reputation to be Elon’s chief apology officer.”

…On Nov. 18, during a conference call, several longtime advertising executives spoke to Ms. Yaccarino about their concerns with Mr. Musk’s seeming embrace of antisemitism and encouraged her to resign, two people familiar with the call said.

Everyone’s employment decisions are their own to make, of course. And there’s a fair bit in here that explains why Yaccarino took and is staying in a job where she seems so regularly undermined by Musk. The piece talks about how some feel that she and Musk “have enough of a shared vision for X that she can grit her teeth and bear it” and how she and Musk “share a fervent belief that their responsibilities range beyond running a viable business into rescuing the principle of free speech, a paranoia of sabotage from employees and associates, and a willingness to pursue legal action against critics.” There’s also a lot on how she felt disrespected and not sufficiently promoted at NBC and Turner.

So there is a fair bit in here to perhaps explain why Yaccarino chose to go from an NBC role where she was widely praised for ad sales, including for the Olympics, to a role where she’s taking a ton of flak for Musk’s X decisions and undermining of her comments and policies. And she certainly can make that call. But it’s notable to see this detailed piece outlining how many business-side and revenue problems X still has, and how pessimistic many still are about the company’s future and Yaccarino’s role there. And that even includes her friends.

[The New York Times]
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A good in-depth article from the New York Times.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Elon?
Linda Yaccarino, the C.E.O. of X, has worked hard to bring back advertisers and fix the platform’s business. But its owner, Elon Musk, is always one whim away from undoing her work.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/27/technology/linda-yaccarino-x-ceo-elon-musk.html

gwb-trading · Aug 1, 2024

Earlier projections had Twitter not being able to cover its debt service by Q3 or Q4 of 2024. The question is when Twitter cannot cover its debt service then what is going to happen. IMO Musk will step up with money to cover the debt for that particular quarter... but this cannot go on continuously every quarter.

This type of announcement from Musk sounds like he is just preparing the creditors for the inevitable.

Elon Musk says Twitter is still losing money due to 'heavy debt' and sliding advertising revenues
https://www.businessinsider.com/elo...sing-money-heavy-debt-advertisers-flee-2023-7

Elon Musk said Twitter's still losing money, blaming "heavy debt" and lower advertising revenues.

He's been trying to reinvent the platform after buying it for $44 billion last year.

But ad revenue has halved and Musk's other plans like Twitter Blue haven't filled the gap.

Elon Musk said Twitter was still losing money, blaming a "heavy debt load" and sliding advertising revenue.

In a tweet replying to a user who suggested Musk get a consortium together to buy Twitter's debt, he bemoaned the company's uncomfortable financial position.

"We're still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load," Musk tweeted. "Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else."

Musk's made sweeping changes to Twitter since paying $44 billion to buy it last October, including cutting about 90% of the workforce.

Still, Musk faces a steep uphill battle to make the firm profitable. The takeover was financed with huge amounts of borrowing and the interest payments alone are estimated to be about $1.5 billion a year, Reuters reported.

Fidelity, an asset manager, estimated in May that Twitter was now worth just $15 billion – even before Meta launched Threads, which Mark Zuckerberg hopes will be a Twitter killer.

Advertisers voted with their feet after Musk's takeover, with half of its biggest spending leaving in the following month.

While Musk told BBC News that advertisers had returned, an internal document shared with The New York Times in June showed that ad revenue had dropped by almost 60%.

That comes amid a wider downturn in online advertising, with many companies opting to spend less on marketing.

Meanwhile, measures Musk hoped would generate new streams of revenue have yet to take off. Twitter Blue made just $11 million in its first three months, for example.

Incentives to entice creators to the platform and get more sign ups to Twitter Blue by paying users based on impressions, also looks unlikely to generate real changes in revenue.

gwb-trading · Aug 1, 2024

Don Lemon Sues Elon Musk and X Over Partnership Deal That Fell Apart
https://www.mediaite.com/news/just-...-and-x-over-partnership-deal-that-fell-apart/

exGOPer · Aug 4, 2024

gwb-trading said:
A good in-depth article from the New York Times.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Elon?
Linda Yaccarino, the C.E.O. of X, has worked hard to bring back advertisers and fix the platform’s business. But its owner, Elon Musk, is always one whim away from undoing her work.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/27/technology/linda-yaccarino-x-ceo-elon-musk.html
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It’s comical how the Trunts have embraced Musk and this neurolink business, but have been whining for years that Bill Gates is going to microchip them.

wildchild · Aug 4, 2024

exGOPer said:
It’s comical how the Trunts have embraced Musk and this neurolink business, but have been whining for years that Bill Gates is going to microchip them.
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Elon Musk is a selfmade made worth $235 billion.

You live in your parents basement.

Like he gives a fuck what you think, Kintacos.

exGOPer · Aug 4, 2024

wildchild said:
Elon Musk is a selfmade made worth $235 billion.

You live in your parents basement.

Like he gives a fuck what you think, Kintacos.
More...

Looks like weirdchild got the implants, keep defending the weirdos.

gwb-trading · Aug 6, 2024

"Hey, let's sue our advertisers. Surely that will make them come back".

Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter takeover
https://apnews.com/article/x-sues-a...-mars-orsted-673d1ae88e9fb0ca5b170d238739453e

gwb-trading · Aug 12, 2024

The Trump interview turns in to a complete shiatshow as expected; Musk's X platform is incapable of hosting a large video presentation.

Musk is attempting to blame a DDOS attack -- which network security experts say is not occurring based on the worldwide monitoring of web traffic. If this was a DDOS attack then nearly all of X would have access issues; not just a single video meeting.

Elon Musk, Donald Trump event on X crashes site, Tesla CEO blames cyberattack
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/12/elo...-x-crashes-site-tesla-ceo-blames-hackers.html

gwb-trading · Aug 12, 2024