Twitter ad sales down by more than half since Elon Musk takeover, report claims

Massive revenue drop comes just ahead of arrival of newly appointed CEO Linda Yaccarino

A sign at Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco, 8 December, 2022 (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Twitter’s ad revenue in the US has plunged by more than half since Elon Musk took the company over, according to reports.

Internal documents show that Twitter made $88 million worth of ad sales between April and May this year, The New York Times reported, marking a 59 per cent drop from the same period last year.

Shortly after Mr Musk’s takeover in October 2022, several key sales executives at Twitter where fired, while controversial figures like Donald Trump and Andrew Tate were allowed to return to the platform.

Following the sackings and change in policy, several high profile brands confirmed that they would no longer be advertising through Twitter due to concerns with the platform and its leadership.

Twitter’s valuation also plunged in the months following the $44 billion takeover deal, with Mr Musk saying in March that the company was worth $20 billion. Investment firm Fidelity has since estimated Twitter to be worth $15 billion.

In April, Mr Musk said the firm was “roughly breaking even”, claiming that “almost all advertisers have come back or said they are going to come back”.

Last month, Mr Musk announced that he would be stepping down as CEO of Twitter in order to focus on overseeing product, software and sysops as the company’s chief technology officer.

His replacement, Linda Yaccarino, appears to have been selected based on her success and connections within the advertising world, having served as an executive for NBCUniversal.

Ms Yaccarino and Mr Musk appeared together at a public event earlier this year, giving an indication that her focus will primarily be aimed at developing and improving relationships with advertisers, whose purchases make up the majority of Twitter’s revenue.

One potential route to achieving this is by reinstating Twitter’s Influence Council of marketers and advertising executives, which allowed industry figures to give direct feedback on how they wanted the platform to look before it was disbanded.