Musk: Twitter’s ad revenue down ~50%

Musk says Twitter has a “negative cash flow” and its advertising revenue has declined by about 50% amid a “heavy debt load” as competition between Twitter and Threads intensifies. This comes just as Twitter began paying content creators for posting advertisements. Some users are reporting payouts of over $100,000, and Musk himself says Twitter will pay creators $5 million through its first block of payments. It is unclear, though, which kinds of posts or which users are eligible for advertising payments, and some users have criticized the platform’s payout program.

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

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

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2023