After Musk's Acquisition, 'X' Users Leave and Corporate Value Drops 61%

Decrease in App Downloads After Changing Company Name to 'X'
Number of Employees Reduced to One-Fifth Over One Year

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has seen the number of users decrease by 16% and the corporate value of X (formerly Twitter) drop by up to 61% just one year after acquiring the platform.

16% of Users Left Within One Year of Acquisition

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.
Photo by AP Yonhap News

According to recent data released by mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower, as of September, the daily active users of X on mobile devices were counted at 183 million. This represents a 16% decrease compared to October last year, when Musk acquired the former Twitter.

This contrasts with other major social networking services (SNS) such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, which saw user numbers increase by around 10% during the same period.

There are also evaluations that the corporate value has decreased by more than 60%. The multinational investment firm Fidelity Investments assessed that X’s corporate value dropped by 61% compared to October last year.

Considering that Musk acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion (approximately 59 trillion KRW), the corporate value has fallen to $17.1 billion (approximately 23 trillion KRW), less than half of its previous worth in just one year.

Revenue has also significantly decreased to about half of the previous level. According to market research firm Guideline, advertising spending on X in the U.S. from September last year to August this year, before Musk’s acquisition, decreased by 54% compared to the previous year. During the same period, TikTok increased by 72%, while Reddit and Facebook grew by 21% and 2%, respectively.

Musk’s ‘X’... Was the Name Change a Misstep?

In particular, after the company changed its name from Twitter to X, the number of app downloads worldwide declined. According to market intelligence company Apptopia, while the name ‘Twitter’ was still maintained after Musk’s acquisition, app downloads exceeded 60 million per quarter for three consecutive quarters, surpassing pre-acquisition levels.

However, after the name changed to X in July, the number of downloads fell below 50 million over the following three months, dropping even below pre-acquisition figures.

The number of employees also drastically decreased over the year. At the time of Musk’s acquisition, the number of employees was around 7,500. However, as of April, the number of employees was estimated to be 1,500. Approximately 80% were either laid off or left the company.