Musk estimates Twitter is worth just $20 billion – 03/26/2023 – Market

Elon Musk currently estimates the value of Twitter at US$20 billion (about R$105 billion), less than half of the US$44 billion (approximately R$213 billion), calculated five months ago when the social network was acquired by the tycoon, according to an internal document consulted by several American media.

The internal letter to employees referred to profit sharing within the San Francisco-based group and the allocation of shares in X Holdings, the company that has overseen Twitter since its acquisition in late October.

The equity grant program values ​​the platform at US$20 billion, close to the capitalization of Snap (US$18.2 billion), Snapchat’s parent company, or social network and image portal Pinterest (US$ 18.7 billion, around 99 billion reais).

Questioned by the AFP through an email dedicated to the press, Twitter generated an automatic response that only contained an emoji representing feces.

In the internal document, Musk attributes the brutal contraction of values ​​to financial difficulties. According to the tycoon, the group was on the verge of bankruptcy for a while.

“Twitter was destined to lose $3 billion [cerca de R$ 15 bilhões] per year”, wrote the businessman in a message published on the platform this Saturday.

According to Musk, this number is explained by a loss of revenue of US$ 1.5 billion (almost R$ 8 billion) and debt maturities for another equivalent amount.

“But now that advertisers are returning, it looks like we’re going to break even in the second quarter” of 2023, said Twitter’s chief executive and majority shareholder.

Since taking control of the social network, Elon Musk, who also owns aerospace company SpaceX and electric car maker Tesla, has reduced the group’s workforce from 7,500 to less than 2,000 employees, resorting to successive waves of layoffs.