X UK Revenue Decline: 66% Drop After Musk Takeover

X's Financial Performance Declines in the U.K.

The platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has experienced significant financial difficulties within the United Kingdom. Prior to Elon Musk’s acquisition, the U.K. represented a substantial revenue stream for the social network.

Revenue and Profit Reduction

Financial filings submitted to the U.K.’s Companies House this week reveal a dramatic downturn for X’s U.K. entity, still legally registered as Twitter UK Ltd. Both revenues and profits experienced a decline exceeding 60% throughout 2023.

The decrease in revenue is directly linked to reduced advertising expenditure on the platform. This reduction stems from anxieties surrounding “brand safety and/or content moderation,” as detailed in a report by The Guardian.

Detailed Financial Figures

In 2023, overall revenue decreased by 66.3%, falling to £69.1 million ($91.6 million) compared to £205.3 million ($272.3 million) in the preceding year.

Profitability also suffered a considerable drop, decreasing from £5.6 million ($7.4 million) to £1.2 million ($1.6 million) over the same timeframe.

Mitigation Efforts and Staff Reductions

The company has stated its commitment to addressing these issues. Corrective measures are being implemented to enhance brand safety tools, increase investment in platform security and content moderation, and subsequently inform advertisers about these improvements.

Following Elon Musk’s takeover, a significant number of redundancies were implemented within the U.K. office. This mirrored similar workforce reductions that occurred among U.S.-based employees.

Consequently, employee numbers in the U.K. decreased from 399 in the previous year to 114 in 2023.