SOCIAL media platform X/Twitter has lost 71% of its value since Elon Musk took over the site, according to an investment fund.
Fidelity, a mutual fund which owns a stake in X Holdings, the parent company of X, said it had marked down the value of its shares in the company by 71.5% since Musk purchased the site.
Currently, Fidelity estimates the value of X at around $12.5 billion.
The tech billionaire acquired Twitter for $44 billion October 2022. He then renamed the site 'X' in July 2023.
After Musk took over the site many companies halted their advertising spending.
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In reaction to the news that companies were no longer willing to advertise on X, Musk said: “If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f*** yourself.”
Musk’s tenure has been replete with controversy. He has previously suggested charging all users to access the site and reinstated the accounts of far-right figures such as Tommy Robinson and Alex Jones.
He also allowed Donald Trump back on the platform (although the former president has largely shunned X in favour of his own social media site Truth Social).
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Musk even accused First Minister Humza Yousaf of being a “blatant racist” after sharing a clip of Yousaf speaking in the Scottish Parliament in 2020.
A spokesperson for the First Minister called on Musk to tackle the “racism and hatred that goes unchecked on the social media platform he owns”.
Indeed, in November a report by the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media found that X had become a “hotbed for hate speech against Palestinians”.
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