Posted on 06/01/2023 12:37:52 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has provided some convincing commentary about his willingness to forgo revenue in order to retain “free speech.” However, more recently he has qualified that outlook by saying, “Freedom of speech is not the same as freedom of reach.” Musk noting Twitter will block, remove, censor, shadow ban, deboost, downrank and stop content from amplifying based on the determination of those in charge of Twitter content.
This controlled “freedom of reach” perspective, which is really shadow-banning in practice, is generally accepted and now admitted. Against this backdrop, it becomes important to understand the priorities of the platform to understand the guidelines of the platform. Within this context the financials are key to understanding what elements are included within “approved content.” {GO DEEP}
Twitter is now a private company, therefore understanding the financials of Twitter is a little more challenging than when they were required to post their financial statements publicly. However, Elon Musk gave an interview with the Babylon Bee yesterday and revealed some of the internal financial challenges. [VIDEO HERE] I am going to summarize the status of the Twitter financial position according to what Musk himself revealed.
♦ Twitter was initially purchased by Musk and his investors for around $44 billion. The company now estimates its value around $20 billion. Musk overpaid.
♦ Musk put roughly $30 billions of his own net worth into the purchase and financed the rest.
♦ Current outstanding debt on the financing for the purchase is around $12.5 billion. Per Musk statement.
♦ Current debt service, interest on the loans (from investors), is roughly $1.5 billion/yr. $120.5 million per month for debt service. Per Musk statement.
♦ Previous revenue (when public) was roughly $4 billion/yr. Twitter was generally breaking even.
♦ Advertising revenue, as a result of changes in industry in combination with concerns about Twitter, are “half” what they were during the acquisition phase, per Musk statement. That puts current advertising revenue around $2 billion/yr.
♦ Per conversation, current status of Twitter is -$3 billion/yr and could be as high as -$4 to 5 billion/yr. This makes complete sense if $4 billion in revenue was generally the breakeven point (before acquisition), and now they have $2 billion in revenue and $1.5 billion in additional debt service [as they trim operational costs (including labor) to offset].
♦♦ For the bottom line to be an operational loss of $3 to $5 billion (est) per year, Twitter is generally losing around $300 million per month.
♦ There is only so much Tesla stock Musk can sell to support Twitter. He has limits. Per conversation.
♦ Twitter has around $100 million/mo in liquid cash available. Per conversation.
Twitter is in locked contracts with AWS and Google cloud services through 2025 at roughly $300 million per year for both [AWS $100 million, Goog $200 million].
Elon Musk needs revenue desperately.
Twitter urgently needs advertising revenue.
Without revenue or acquisition of another platform (with assets) to offset the current status of Twitter, it is only a matter of time before bankruptcy. [Note, Twitter investors are backstopped with Tesla/SpaceX as collateral against default.]
The tightrope… Elon Musk must appease the Google advertising control agents and adhere to content rules and regulation (DEI etc.) in order to maximize his revenue. That’s where Linda Yaccarino comes in as a critical player.
Bottom line, Musk has to make decisions through one prism, THE ECONOMICS. Musk’s decision-making, pro freedom or not, is constrained by this financial dependency. Hence, a lot of the platform censorship elements remain (including some personnel) and now the outreach to appoint Google/WEF approved Linda Yaccarino in an effort to enhance the revenue.
When you are perplexed about Musk decision making…. THERE’S YOUR ANSWER.
Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.
Musk can do whatever he likes. So can Zuck. Jim Rob can boot anyone off of FR. DU can kick off whoever they want. When I was sysop of a board darn right I’d toss someone merely because I thought their opinion sucked.
The only freedom of speech, as far as I am concerned, is that GOVERNMENT cannot prevent or punish your ‘speech’; no one else should have to provide you with a platform, or space on private property.
Don’t like it, start your own newspaper, website, or social media platform.
“the outreach to appoint Google/WEF approved Linda Yaccarino in an effort to enhance the revenue”
On-boarded to help manage that inter-activity, which Yaccarino has managed so effectively before-
If your business deals with The Devil, why not hire a Demon?
It will make it possible to live to fight another day.
Twitter was just a step for Musk, a step towards greater things.
“Without revenue or acquisition of another platform (with assets) to offset the current status of Twitter, it is only a matter of time before bankruptcy.”
Musk has the backing from investors to keep Twitter afloat for the foreseeable future.
Good article although it leaves off how Musk has massive financial liabilities to the Chicoms. He is beholden to them and thus will not ever criticize them or allow meaningful criticism of them to gain traction on Twitter.
The lab leak theories of covid don’t really do anything to hurt China. There are a lot more damaging stories about China like their human rights abuses, censorship practices, and forced technology transfers. Musk won’t let those stories go viral on Twitter. Ditto for bad stories about his Saudi paymasters.
Musk is a Champion of Free Speech .... Musk is going to change the world .... Musk builds empires .... Musk is going to set things right, once and for all
My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnd....NOTHING.
How many folks on here thought he was the second coming of Christ? Interestingly, they tend to be the same folks that are on Team DeSantis right now.
So, lets see....the FBI was colluding with Twitter to censor....Really? The FBI was. Not a person in the FBI. Not a special agent in the FBI. Not a Deputy Director or SAIC in the FBI. Just the FBI. Might as well say that the J Edgar Hoover Building was making personnel decisions.
This man is an absolute fraud. Always has been, always will be.
I don’t care about his toy cars or his space ships. They mean NOTHING.
He legit has/had the chance to set so many things right. But, I’m betting that the “men in dark colored suits”, term used by Putin to describe who runs sh*t, paid him a visit and say....enough is enough.
Nothing but a snakeoil salesman, coddling up to the Chinese since they control almost all of the material needed to make his toy cars.
You make some good points, qaz123. Personally I am ready to cut Musk some slack.
He’s in a transition phase, just as President Trump was in 2016. Yes, he has GOALS to shoot for, but he needs to partially bargain with the demons in order to move forward. He needs to make deals with the RINOs in pursuit of the larger mission to Make America Great Again.
So Making the Internet Free Again is not an easy task for anyone. Musk’s mindset seems to be right. Let’s see how Twitter evolves over the next year or so.
shadow banned should be banned.
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