X could lose up to $75 million in revenue as more advertisers pull out

X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, could lose as much as $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of the year if dozens of major brands pause their marketing campaigns after its owner, Elon Musk, endorsed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory this month. .

Internal documents reviewed by The New York Times this week show that the company is in a more difficult position than previously thought and that concerns about Mr Musk and the platform have spread far beyond the likes of IBM, Apple and Disney, which have halted their advertising campaigns. on X last week. The documents list more than 200 ad units from companies including Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola and Microsoft, many of which have halted or are considering pausing their advertising on the social network.

The documents come from X’s sales team and are intended to track the impact of all advertising errors this month, including those from companies that have already shut down and others at risk of doing so. They mention how much advertising revenue X employees fear the company could lose through the end of the year if advertisers don’t return.

On Friday, The company said the figures viewed by The Times were outdated or represented an internal exercise to evaluate overall risk.

The ad cuts come during the last three months of the year, which is traditionally the social media company’s strongest quarter as brands run holiday promotions for events like Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. In the final three months of 2021 — the last year the company reported fourth-quarter earnings before Musk took over — the company posted $1.57 billion in revenue, nearly 90 percent of which came from advertising.

Since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last year, some brands have been reluctant to advertise on the platform, concerned about Musk’s behavior and content moderation decisions, which have led to an increase of inflammatory and hateful content. U.S. advertising on the platform is down nearly 60 percent this year, prompting the company to win back advertisers in an effort spearheaded by CEO Linda Yaccarino. X also runs advertising campaigns during the holiday season to make up for revenue shortfalls.

However, the documents show that this is not going according to plan. More than 100 brands are shown as having their advertising ‘completely paused’, while dozens more are listed as ‘at risk’. Many paused on or after November 15, when Mr. Musk wrote in a post on

Leesha Anderson, the vice president of digital marketing and social media at ad agency Outcast, said his clients steadily stopped spending on X after Mr. Musk took over and found alternatives on platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok.

“In today’s dynamic marketplace, brands have a plethora of platform choices at their disposal for precise audience targeting,” she says. “It is therefore imperative that the administrators and owners of social platforms exercise conscious discretion in all aspects, whether it concerns their personal beliefs or political positions, as these choices will inevitably come under public scrutiny.”

The organizations that have halted their advertising on X range from political campaigns to fast-food chains and tech giants, the documents show. For example, Airbnb halted listings worth more than $1 million, while Uber cut back on listings worth more than $800,000, halting campaigns in the U.S. and international markets. Both technology companies declined to comment.

Other major brands, including Jack in the Box, Coca-Cola and Netflix, have halted some of their campaigns. By X’s estimates, Netflix’s discontinued ads were worth nearly $3 million. Jack in the Box, Coca-Cola and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.

Several Microsoft subsidiaries have also stopped advertising — leading to a potential loss of more than $4 million in revenue for Q4 X, based on the documents — as have Amazon’s books and music units and one subsidiary from Google. The search giant and some other brands that have halted their spending, including NBC Universalcontinue posting its content on the platform without paying X to ensure it reaches a wide audience.

Google and Microsoft declined to comment. Amazon did not return requests for comment.

On the NBC program “Meet the Press” last Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie called Musk’s comment part of a recent outpouring of an “outrageous kind of hatred.”

“Whether it’s Elon Musk, whether it’s professors on our college campuses or students who they’re misleading, or whether it’s individuals speaking out in an anti-Semitic way on the streets of our cities,” he said.

Two days before Mr. Christie’s appearance, a super PAC supporting him, called Tell It Like It Is, withdrew its ads from X, according to the documents. A representative for the political fundraising group did not respond to a request for comment.

At an internal meeting with X employees this week, Ms. Yaccarino was in a defiant mood. She made no mention of Musk’s support for the anti-Semitic post and attributed the company’s problems to a report from left-wing media watchdog group Media Matters, which found that ads on for white people. nationalist and Nazi content.

On Monday, after Mr. Musk called Media Matters “a malicious organization,” and images of paid posts from X’s largest advertisers, bordering on racist, inflammatory content.” Ms Yaccarino has blamed the Media Matters report for X’s declining ad sales.

“Giving in to external criticism or pressure is simply not the way X will ever work,” she wrote in an email to X employees on Wednesday that was seen in The Times. “The people at X are defenders of freedom of expression. We stand in solidarity with those who believe in this fundamental right and the critical checks and balances of a thriving democracy.”

Earlier this week, Mr. Musk spent time celebrating companies that have continued to advertise on X, including the National Football League. Using a heart emojiThe billionaire owner of

So does Mr. Musk noted that the company would “donate all advertising and subscription revenue related to the war in Gaza to hospitals in Israel and the Red Cross/Crescent in Gaza.” The funding includes revenue from advertisements purchased by charity groups, news organizations and other groups that promoted content related to the conflict.

Following the lead of her boss, Ms. Yaccarino added a plea to Mr. Musk’s original post.

“Lean over and help,” she said wrote on X.

Tiffany Hsu reporting contributed.