X Ad Revenue Down 66% From 2022 Peak, SpaceX Reports
Financial disclosures show X's advertising business has shrunk to $367 million per quarter, a fraction of its pre-Musk levels.
X's advertising business continues to shrink under Elon Musk's ownership, with recent financial data showing a massive collapse in revenue compared to the platform's pre-acquisition era. The figures, disclosed in SpaceX's first-ever quarterly business report as a public company, highlight the ongoing struggle to stabilize the platform's primary income stream.
According to the reports, X generated $367 million in advertising revenue between April and June of the current year. While this represents a slight recovery from the $426 million earned during the same period last year, it is a stark decline from the $1.08 billion reported by Twitter in the second quarter of 2022. SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen attributed the recent quarterly growth to an "overhauled" ad tech platform, yet the overall trajectory remains steeply downward.
A Pivot in Strategy
Since Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022, X has aggressively pivoted away from a pure ad-supported model. The company has pushed users toward premium subscriptions, including an ad-free Premium+ tier, in an attempt to diversify its revenue. This transition has not been seamless, characterized by massive staff reductions, legal disputes with major advertisers, and highly public confrontations between Musk and brand buyers.
The Industrial Impact
These numbers confirm that X's core advertising business has lost more than 60% of its value since 2022. For the broader digital advertising market, the decline signals a shift in how brands perceive the platform's safety and reach. Furthermore, the data underscores X's diminishing importance as a financial driver within Musk's wider corporate ecosystem. As SpaceX's AI and Starlink divisions now generate billions of dollars, X's advertising contributions have become a marginal component of the parent entity's total revenue.
Looking Ahead
While the "overhauled" ad tech mentioned by Johnsen suggests a technical attempt to win back spend, the gap between current earnings and 2022 levels remains vast. Observers will be watching to see if these technical improvements can translate into a sustained return of high-spending brands or if the platform will continue to lean more heavily on subscription fees to offset the loss of corporate ad budgets.