X-formerly-Twitter is in deep trouble — and owner Elon Musk is on his knees, yet again, begging advertisers to return.

Cross-post from https://lemmy.world/post/16743494

While the New York Times reported last week that executives at the beleaguered platform had assured employees that 65 percent of advertisers had returned, documents obtained by Bloomberg show that revenue has overall cratered since owner Elon Musk took over in late 2022.

Now, Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino are back in damage control mode, trying to scrounge up some much-needed funds at this year’s Cannes Lions festival in southern France. The mercurial billionaire reportedly met with executives from the likes of the NFL, L’Oreal, Qualcomm, and Target, according to new reporting by the NYT.

But whether these measures will help Musk’s hate speech-ridden echo chamber from bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter remains to be seen.

After all, who could forget that Musk quite literally told advertisers to go fuck themselves in November — fighting words that likely didn’t sit well with the execs he’s now pleading to return to X.

  • thechadwick@lemmy.world
    0·
    5 months ago

    “I don’t want them to advertise,” Musk said. “If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go f*** yourself. Go. F***. Yourself,” he said. “Is that clear? Hey Bob [Iger, CEO of Disney], if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel."

    • the guy who bought the website for 40+ billion dollars.

  • Allonzee@lemmy.world
    0·
    5 months ago

    I wish stories about X would stop calling it Twitter.

    Call it X. People still have nostalgia for earlier Twitter, though I’ve no idea why, and nostalgia unfortunately still makes some believe something that no longer has any value somehow still does.

    No one gives a shit if X goes under. Call it X, that’s what Elon wanted anyway, right?

    • tate@lemmy.sdf.org
      1·
      5 months ago

      It’s not about nostalgia. It’s about passive aggressively needling Musk, and it works and I love it.