March 6, 2023
According to the Wall Street Journal, Twitter recorded a 40% year-over-year drop in both revenue and adjusted earnings for the month of December.
Following Musk’s takeover, a flurry of advertisers pulled back on ads on the platform, citing concerns about how changes to moderation and staffing would affect the site. Twitter recorded a 71% decrease in advertising spend on Twitter during December.
Since Musk took over as CEO in late October, following the close of his $44 billion acquisition, Twitter has been slashing expenses through layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.
Twitter took on $13 billion in debt as part of the buyout, with annual interest payments of around $1 billion.
Musk, who warned in November about the possibility of the Twitter going bankrupt, said in December that the company was on track to be “roughly cash flow break-even” in 2023. He also tweeted in February that “Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy, while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties. Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. Twitter still has challenges but is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!”
In January, Twitter also made its first interest payment on a loan provided by banks to help finance billionaire Musk’s purchase.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
