Thanks to unconventional figures: X allegedly worth 44 billion US dollars again
Elon Musk's short message service wants to raise fresh money. It is allegedly worth another 44 billion US dollars – but only if you do the math.
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X is set to regain the total value of 44 billion US dollars for which Elon Musk bought Twitter, but is relying on business figures that do not meet the standards of most large companies. This was reported by the financial news agency Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the figures. They have access to the data that the short message service recently shared with potential investors. This would include income from "related parties" that are not part of the core business. None of the figures would be accepted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, but X is no longer traded on the stock exchange.
Figures possibly "too optimistic"
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that X wants to raise fresh money. In the course of this, the short message service provided business figures to potential investors, which Bloomberg has now gained insight into. According to the figures, X generated net sales of 2.6 billion US dollars last year, around half as much as in the year before the Twitter takeover. At the same time, however, X reported an adjusted profit of 1.4 billion US dollars, whereas Twitter had accumulated losses before the takeover. However, the adjusted profit was calculated before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
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According to Bloomberg, X has also stated that it has funds amounting to 400 million US dollars, significantly less than the 1.4 billion US dollars before the takeover. The reasons given for this include investments in hardware for the AI company xAI. In return, the short messaging service received a total of 200 million US dollars in revenue from xAI. Even under the "unusual financial figures", as Bloomberg calls them, the social network's debt burden is significantly higher than what is usually classified as "risky". One potential investor is therefore also saying that the figures may paint an overly optimistic picture of the business.
Just last week, it became known that the banks that co-financed Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter had sold a large proportion of their loans in recent weeks and only had to accept minimal discounts. This was preceded by a significant turnaround, as the loans were only worth 60 percent in the meantime. Even two months ago, they could only have been sold at a loss of 10 to 20 percent. The background to this could also be Elon Musk's close relationship with US President Donald Trump. X is also taking more aggressive action against advertising customers who have turned their backs on X.
(mho)
