Current Events > Did Musk Just Admit Twitter Lost 90% of Its Revenue After Owning It?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/according-elon-musk-own-math-204413573.html

Elon Musk says the most outrageous things. But the message he posted at 7:04 p.m. on Labor Day evening may rank as the most negative, in fact self-indicting, assessment a corporate leader has ever issued about their own enterprise.

Musk fired off this head-spinning salvo in his attack on the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish-led organization civil rights organization. The ADL had strongly objected to virulently anti-Semitic tweets from far-right hate groups that X permitted on the platform. Musk charged that the ADL was "aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts even for minor infractions," and that the organization was "trying to kill X" by pressing advertisers to avoid the site. But the most mystifying feature wasn't that, once again, Musk shot off his mouth and hit his foot, but that he actually put a number on the financial damage allegedly inflicted by the ADL that's likely to floor his partners and lenders.

His astounding math applies to the present value of the business formerly known as Twitter. Musk's said many times since he purchased the platform last October that its worth has plummeted, largely via a disastrous drop in ad revenue. Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, funded $13 billion by loans from big-name commercial and investment banks, and $31 billion in equity. Of the latter portion, Musk contributed about $24 billion of his own cash, while a group of investor friends including Larry Ellison, Ron Baron, and Prince Al Waleed of Saudi Arabia provided $7 billion.

In the post, Musk charges that "ADL seems responsible for most of our revenue loss" and adds, "I don't see any scenario where they're responsible for less than 10% of the value destruction, so around $4 billion." It's logical to assume that by "value," Musk means the $44 billion paid for the property, not the equity portion. After all, if you bought a house for $440,000, borrowed $130,000, and funded the remaining $310,000 in cash, and the price fell, you'd calculate the fall in "value" based in how much less than $440,000 the dwelling would fetch today.

In Musk's reckoning, the ADL singlehandedly vaporized roughly $4 billion in X's "value," and that $4 billion accounts for around 10% of the entire decline in the franchise's worth. That formula puts the total fall at $40 billion. Since Musk and partners paid $44 billion including debt, he's implying that the platform would now change hands for $4 billion (the $44 billion purchase price minus the $40 billion in "value destruction"), for a drop of 90%. In effect, he's saying that the $31 billion he and his partners invested in equity is totally gone, and a big portion of the debt from provided by the cream of Wall Street sits far underwater.

Does Elon Musk really believe that X is now worth $4 billion, as his scorching post suggests? Maybe not. But he's just inflicted still another battering on his already beleaguered brand that will further undermine its standing in the eyes of advertisers. His view may be that it's acceptable to exaggerate the pain and throw around numbers when you're the victim, when it's somebody else's fault. If X indeed proves a financial cataclysm, people are likely to forget the excuses, and examine the careening missteps from its mercurial sole proprietor.

take note, Fandom

Oh no, Jewish people standing up for themselves is just the worst.

Why do you think Republicans love to use George Soros as a boogeyman?

Fucking Nazi freak

Ah, billionaires - not only did he lose all that money and valuation over ego and spite, but lots of middle and working class income jobs were ended.

Not gonna defend Twitter as it was before Elon, but nothing good and lots of bad has come of his narcissism driven purchase.

Twitter is worthless at best

Yep. He can't hide it any more and he can't fix it without banning his new neo-Nazi friends so he needs a convenient scapegoat to blame his problems on. Hence, The Jews!

Musk has officially reached the Antisemitic Point of No Return.

That article seems totally wrong.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/9/2/AANRQlAAE0TI.jpg

Looks to me that Elon is saying he can sue the ADL for destroying 10% to 50% of the original company value ($44 billion).

I don't see anything in these tweets that says Twitter is only worth 10% of what Elon paid for it, or how much actual revenue they have lost.

Humble_Novice posted...

"I don't see any scenario where they're responsible for less than 10% of the value destruction, so around $4 billion."

AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

Looks to me that Elon is saying he can sue the ADL for destroying 10% to 50% of the original company value ($44 billion).

I don't see anything in these tweets that says Twitter is only worth 10% of what Elon paid for it, or how much actual revenue they have lost.

Narcissist translation service here, what Elon means is WAAAAAA GIMMIE BACK DA MONEYS

part of the broader conservative push to make it illegal to call someone racist.

1. start fucking with everything
2. fire all the engineers who know how do that
3. piss off all the advertisers
4. piss off the userbase

At least when Eddie Lambert was running Sears into the ground, it was intentional.

Elon is the new trump.

what the hell is twitter

Questionmarktarius posted...

1. start fucking with everything
2. fire all the engineers who know how do that
3. piss off all the advertisers
4. piss off the userbase
At least when Eddie Lambert was running Sears into the ground, it was intentional.

Elon simps: its all part of the plan

Chicken posted...

Elon simps: its all part of the plan

Yeah just read his white paper. It's all in there.

Why isn't Musk being investigated for sabotaging an attack on a Russian fleet?

Just sell the platform and slither off in some damp corner, Musk.

Big Jew is destroying Twitter! Not Elon's hundreds of dogshit decisions!

He's literally blaming the Jews....

AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

That article seems totally wrong.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/9/2/AANRQlAAE0TI.jpg

Looks to me that Elon is saying he can sue the ADL for destroying 10% to 50% of the original company value ($44 billion).

I don't see anything in these tweets that says Twitter is only worth 10% of what Elon paid for it, or how much actual revenue they have lost.

Yeah I think he meant they're responsible for destroying no less than 10% of the value ($4 billion), not that 10% of the damage caused is $4 billion.

Not that he's not just making up numbers on the fly of course.

VGAddict90 posted...

Why isn't Musk being investigated for sabotaging an attack on a Russian fleet?

Rich people (above a certain threshold) aren't accountable to the law. It's baked into the system.

Rexdragon125 posted...

Oh no, Jewish people standing up for themselves is just the worst.

Why do you think Republicans love to use George Soros as a boogeyman?

Fucking Nazi freak

The guy that proudly platforms literal nazis is blaming all of his personal and business failings on "The Jews"? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!

It's very on-brand for Elon Musk to sue the ADL for upwards of $4 billion in damages based on "what we've heard from advertisers". I'd love for a judge to teach him the meaning of the word 'hearsay' but we all know he'll never bring this to any court.

Notti posted...

Elon is the new trump.

Ketamine is the new Ivermectin.

Questionmarktarius posted...

1. start fucking with everything
2. fire all the engineers who know how do that
3. piss off all the advertisers
4. piss off the userbase
At least when Eddie Lambert was running Sears into the ground, it was intentional.

Lotta people think it is with Musk as well.

Chicken posted...

Elon simps: its all part of the plan

If it's all an elaborate tax write-off, Elon needs to hurry the hell up with killing Twitter.