Could X go bankrupt under Elon Musk?

Elon Musk’s profane attack on advertisers boycotting X, formerly known as Twitter, has baffled experts. If advertisers keep leaving and don’t come back, can X survive?

In April, I sat down with Musk for the first of his many chaotic interviews about his acquisition of X.

He said something that, in hindsight, was rather revealing, but which passed me by at the time.

Talking about advertising, he said: “If Disney feels comfortable advertising children’s movies [on Twitter], and Apple feels comfortable advertising iPhones, those are good indicators that Twitter is a good place to advertise.”

Seven months later, Disney and Apple are no longer advertising on X – and Musk is telling companies that have left to “Go [expletive] yourself.”

In a fiery interview on Wednesday he also used the “b” word – bankruptcy, in a sign of just how much the ad boycott is damaging the company’s bottom line.

For a company he bought for $44bn (£35bn) last year, bankruptcy might sound unthinkable. But it is possible.

To understand why, you have to look at how reliant X is on advertising revenue – and why advertisers are not coming back.

Although we don’t have the latest figures, last year around 90% of X’s revenue was from advertising. It is the heart of the business.

On Wednesday Musk more than hinted at this.

“If the company fails… it will fail because of an advertiser boycott. And that will be what bankrupts the company.” he said.