Musk To Blame If X Collapses, Say Analysts

The outspoken Elon Musk has been blaming companies for running X into the ground, but experts led by Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg argue, "If anyone is killing X, it's Elon Musk – not advertisers."

X risks not only losing corporate advertisers but also money from political candidates, a revenue stream that reopened after the platform lifted a ban on political ads. I Photo: Copyright Manuel Lopez, World Economic Forum

"If X collapses, an autopsy would reveal a series of platform policy decisions, staffing cuts, tweets, and antagonistic comments by Musk that have driven away X's primary source of revenue," said Enberg, as reported by Sheila Dang, Chavi Mehta, and Jaspreet Singh of Reuters.

Mike Nellis, CEO of Authentic, a digital marketing agency working with Democratic candidates, including US President Joe Biden, stated that he planned to discuss with all his clients whether to spend on X.

"Telling major advertisers and Bob Iger to go F themselves might be the final nail in the coffin," Nellis said.

An executive at a major global ad-buying firm, who declined to be named, mentioned that only one major client was continuing to advertise on X. "(Musk) seems to be hell-bent on destroying the platform," the executive said.

X risks not only losing corporate advertisers but also money from political candidates, a revenue stream that reopened after the platform lifted a ban on political ads. US political ad spending in 2024 – when a presidential election will be held – is expected to reach a record $10.2 billion, according to AdImpact, which tracks political ads.

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