1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,960
Hi everybody and welcome back to
the Elon Musk podcast. 

2
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,280
In today's episode, we delve 
into Twitter's rocky financial 

3
00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:10,520
landscape as Elon Musk reveals a
nearly 50% decline in 

4
00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:14,360
advertising revenue coupled with
a substantial debt burden, which

5
00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,080
have kept Twitter's cash flow 
firmly in the negative. 

6
00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:19,960
Now, despite optimistic 
predictions in March that 

7
00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,320
Twitter could achieve positive 
cash flow by June, the reality 

8
00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,120
has been a tougher nut to crack.
Highlighting that the aggressive

9
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,560
cost cutting measures undertaken
since Musk's acquisition of 

10
00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,080
Twitter last October might not 
be enough, we'll be examining 

11
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,920
the reasons behind the slump, 
including widespread criticism 

12
00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,760
over Twitter's content 
moderation policies that have 

13
00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,640
led to an exodus of advertisers.
We'll also discuss Musk's 

14
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,720
appointment of Linda Yancarino 
as CEO and the controversial 

15
00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,320
news scheme rewarding content 
creators with the share of ad 

16
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,160
revenue move that has already 
seen high profile influencer. 

17
00:00:55,590 --> 00:01:00,470
Andrew Tate Pocket over $20,000,
but don't go away. 

18
00:01:00,670 --> 00:01:03,390
We're just getting started, and 
we'll take a quick commercial 

19
00:01:03,390 --> 00:01:06,710
break and be right back with 
more indepth coverage of this 

20
00:01:06,790 --> 00:01:08,750
unfolding story. 
So stay tuned. 

21
00:01:09,630 --> 00:01:13,190
Twitter is in a slump. 
Now there's a nearly 50% 

22
00:01:13,350 --> 00:01:17,470
advertising revenue downturn and
a substantial debt burden 

23
00:01:17,470 --> 00:01:20,630
continuing to throttle Twitter's
cash flow, according to a 

24
00:01:20,630 --> 00:01:24,270
weekend statement by Elon Musk 
falling short of his optimistic 

25
00:01:24,270 --> 00:01:27,060
projection in March. 
The social media giant could 

26
00:01:27,060 --> 00:01:30,300
achieve a positive cash flow by 
June, they said. 

27
00:01:30,580 --> 00:01:34,140
Before we can indulge in the 
luxury of anything else we need 

28
00:01:34,140 --> 00:01:38,060
to attain positive cash flow, 
Musk responded to proposals of 

29
00:01:38,060 --> 00:01:41,340
recapitalization, underscoring 
the financial challenges his 

30
00:01:41,340 --> 00:01:44,620
company faces now. 
Musk's revelations reaffirmed 

31
00:01:44,620 --> 00:01:47,700
the tough road ahead for Twitter
since its takeover in October 

32
00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:51,540
last year and as measures to 
reduce costs fall short and 

33
00:01:51,540 --> 00:01:53,940
shifting the platform into a 
profitable territory. 

34
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,160
This hints at the recovery of 
Twitter's ad revenue being 

35
00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,240
slower than what Musk had 
initially anticipated in his BBC

36
00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,640
interview in April, suggesting a
strong return of advertisers to 

37
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,720
the site. 
Now, after executing significant

38
00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,960
layoffs and making cuts on cloud
service expenses, Musk had noted

39
00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,120
that the company managed to 
slash its non debt expenditures 

40
00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:21,040
to $1.5 billion, down from the 
projected $4.5 billion for 2023.

41
00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:23,620
However. 
Twitter continues to bear the 

42
00:02:23,620 --> 00:02:27,340
brunt of a debt the resulted 
from the $44 billion deal that 

43
00:02:27,340 --> 00:02:31,060
privatized the firm with annual 
interest payments telling around

44
00:02:31,340 --> 00:02:36,140
$1.5 billion. 
The must didn't provide a 

45
00:02:36,140 --> 00:02:39,740
definitive time frame regarding 
the 50% reduction in ad revenue,

46
00:02:40,140 --> 00:02:43,940
but stated that Twitter was 
aiming to garner $3 billion in 

47
00:02:43,940 --> 00:02:49,020
revenue for 2023, the notable 
dip from 5.1 billion in 2021. 

48
00:02:49,900 --> 00:02:52,520
Critics have pointed it. 
Twitter's lacks content 

49
00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,760
moderation policies as a 
contributing factor to the 

50
00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,440
plunge and ad revenue. 
Following the withdrawal of 

51
00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,080
numerous advertisers reluctant 
to have their promotions 

52
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,760
adjacent to inappropriate 
content and in an attempt to 

53
00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,400
boost ad sales, a crucial area 
for Twitter's future, Musk 

54
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,840
appointed Linda Yakorino, the 
former ad chief at Comcast's NBC

55
00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,400
Universal, as CEO, despite the 
concentrated efforts on ramping 

56
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,240
up subscription revenue. 
Yakorino, who assumed her role 

57
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,230
in June. 
Revealed to investors that the 

58
00:03:21,230 --> 00:03:24,470
company's focus would shift 
towards video creator and 

59
00:03:24,470 --> 00:03:27,230
commerce partnerships. 
Furthermore, preliminary 

60
00:03:27,230 --> 00:03:32,070
discussions have commenced with 
potential and enter edit this 

61
00:03:32,070 --> 00:03:33,910
out. 
Furthermore, preliminary 

62
00:03:33,910 --> 00:03:36,430
discussions have commenced with 
political and entertainment 

63
00:03:36,430 --> 00:03:39,750
figures, payment services and 
media publishers. 

64
00:03:40,190 --> 00:03:42,910
And in an innovative move to 
attract more creators to the 

65
00:03:42,910 --> 00:03:46,550
platform, Twitter announced on 
Thursday that select contact 

66
00:03:46,550 --> 00:03:48,830
creators would be eligible to 
receive a portion. 

67
00:03:49,220 --> 00:03:53,180
Of the ad revenue generated by 
the company Now this initiative 

68
00:03:53,180 --> 00:03:56,940
has already seen a high profile 
influencer, Andrew Tate 

69
00:03:57,180 --> 00:04:02,260
receiving over $20,000 a take 
currently facing rape and human 

70
00:04:02,260 --> 00:04:05,620
trafficking charges in Romania, 
publicize the screenshot of the 

71
00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:09,860
payment notifying stating every 
penny goes to tatepledge.com. 

72
00:04:10,100 --> 00:04:13,540
The funds distributed by Stripe 
represent Twitter share of the 

73
00:04:13,540 --> 00:04:17,100
ad revenue now after a previous 
ban was lifted by Musk. 

74
00:04:17,529 --> 00:04:20,649
State only resumed his Twitter 
activity on November, and the 

75
00:04:20,649 --> 00:04:23,290
British influencer had been 
expelled from the platform in 

76
00:04:23,290 --> 00:04:26,530
2017 due to violations of the 
terms of service with 

77
00:04:26,530 --> 00:04:29,450
provocative tweets. 
Upon Musk's intervention, 

78
00:04:29,450 --> 00:04:32,930
though, Tate, along with several
other suspended accounts, were 

79
00:04:32,930 --> 00:04:36,330
reinstated to Twitter. 
What are representatives, 

80
00:04:36,330 --> 00:04:39,290
however, have remained very 
silent in response to requests 

81
00:04:39,290 --> 00:04:43,130
for comment from us regarding 
this issue, and Musk first 

82
00:04:43,130 --> 00:04:45,610
introduced the payment scheme 
for content creators in June. 

83
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,360
Claiming that X slash Twitter 
will start paying creators for 

84
00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,400
ads served in their replies and 
with an inaugural round of 

85
00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,400
payments totaling $5 million. 
This scheme, however, is only 

86
00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,280
open to those verified on the 
platform. 

87
00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,280
The Washington Post reported 
that some of the first 

88
00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:04,600
beneficiaries appear to be high 
profile FAR influencers, 

89
00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,880
sparking a wave of inquiries 
from Twitter and edit this out, 

90
00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,000
sparking a wave of inquiries 
from Twitter users questioning 

91
00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,280
the selection criteria, 1 user 
said. 

92
00:05:15,550 --> 00:05:17,630
It's pretty lame. 
There is no payout coming my 

93
00:05:17,630 --> 00:05:19,670
way. 
That was Matt Navarra, social 

94
00:05:19,670 --> 00:05:22,990
media analyst who claimed his 
Twitter account generated 61 

95
00:05:22,990 --> 00:05:26,590
million impressions since 
February 3rd, 2023, underscoring

96
00:05:26,590 --> 00:05:29,310
the ongoing controversy 
surrounding the platform's new 

97
00:05:29,590 --> 00:05:32,790
revenue sharing model. 
This scheme could lure such 

98
00:05:32,790 --> 00:05:36,710
people as Mr. Beast and other 
high profile Youtubers over to 

99
00:05:36,710 --> 00:05:40,030
the Twitter platform so they can
make more revenue with the work 

100
00:05:40,030 --> 00:05:42,880
that they've done. 
And we're here to keep you up to

101
00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:47,080
date on any new revelations that
happen on Twitter or any other 

102
00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,560
Elon Musk companies. 
If you're interested in Elon 

103
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,360
Musk, take a second and hit the 
subscribe button on whatever 

104
00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,400
podcast platform that you're 
listening on right now. 

105
00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,400
I'd greatly appreciate it. 
It helps the show tremendously 

106
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,600
and you'll become part of this 
community which is growing 

107
00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:02,440
steadily. 
Thanks for listening to the show

108
00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:04,280
today. 
Take care of yourselves and each

109
00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:06,080
other and I'll see you in the 
next one.

