X is now worth less than a quarter of its purchase price

Not only is X's (formerly Twitter) influence waning globally, but it is also worth less than a quarter of the $44 billion Musk paid for it, according to new estimates from Fidelity.

The asset manager, which initially poured $19.66 million into X through its Blue Chip Fund has slashed the value of its stake in X to around $4.19 million, based on recently disclosed data. That represents a staggering 78.7% drop in value as of the end of August—a sharp decline for the platform once hailed as a pillar of social media.

But, it isn’t the first time the firm has trimmed the value of its investment. Back in July 2024, Fidelity valued its shares at roughly $5.5 million, showing a consistent downward trend. Based on this latest markdown, X is now valued at approximately $9.4 billion—a far cry from the $44 billion valuation when Musk took the reins.

The platform's troubles began in October 2022 when Musk completed his dramatic acquisition after a drawn-out process that included legal battles as he tried to back out of his $44 billion offer. Once Musk took over, he wasted no time rebranding Twitter as X, setting off a cascade of changes that have continued to alienate advertisers and users alike.

Revenue at X plummeted by 50% in the aftermath of the buyout, largely due to what Musk himself described as a “massive decline” in advertising. Part of the reason? Musk’s impulsive rollouts of controversial features. Among them was a premium subscription service that offered verification badges to anyone willing to pay a few bucks, locking some previously free features under the subscription, and reducing the number of tweets per day for non-paying users.

As a result, many of X’s users flocked to rival platforms like Mastodon, and Threads, a newcomer that swiftly capitalized on Musk’s missteps.

The company's woes deepened as accusations of hate speech surged, including charges of anti-Semitism directed at Musk himself. Unsurprisingly, advertisers continued to flee. According to Fortune, X's ad revenue tumbled from over $1 billion per quarter in 2022 to just $600 million per quarter in 2023.

X has also seen a decrease in users in key markets like the U.S. and the UK, while Brazil is actively battling the platform’s influence.

This ongoing turmoil, combined with Musk’s frequent tirades against public figures—from US presidential candidate Kamala Harris to the leadership of Brazil—has done little to attract advertisers back to X. With no clear path to reversing its fortunes, the next valuation may reveal an even bleaker picture for Musk’s social media venture.