Elon Musk’s X faces $75 million loss in ad revenue as bombshell internal documents show Airbnb, Uber, Coca-Cola and slew of companies have joined boycott after anti-Semitic tweet

Elon Musk’s endorsement of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory could cost his social media company X up to $75 million, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times.

In the days following Musk’s ill-advised tweet on November 15, companies including Apple, IBM, Paramount and Disney announced they were no longer advertising on his platform.

But the new documents show even more companies fleeing, dealing a significant blow to X’s struggling finances.

The documents list more than 200 ad units from companies, including Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola and Microsoft, that have halted or are considering pausing their advertising on the social network.

More than 100 brands are listed as having “completely paused” their advertising, while dozens of others are listed as “at risk,” the paper said.

The $75 million figure was the total advertising revenue that X employees fear the company could lose through the end of the year if advertisers don’t return.

Airbnb has cut more than $1 million worth of listings, while Uber has cut back on more than $800,000 worth of listings.

Netflix’s discontinued ads were worth nearly $3 million, according to X’s estimates, while Microsoft’s subsidiaries stopped spending $4 million.

Amazon’s books and music units, and a subsidiary of Google, have also stopped advertising, according to the newspaper.

The effect on X’s revenues will be dramatic.

In the final quarter of 2022 — 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.

Musk bought the company in October 2022 for $44 billion.

He cut about 80 percent of the staff and ended many of the content moderation policies that advertisers valued.

In June, he bought veteran ad executive Linda Yaccarino as CEO in an effort to quell fears.

Musk has seen the value of his company plummet in its first year: last month it was estimated at $19 billion.

On Friday,

The company said the figure was closer to $11 million, but the exact figure fluctuated as some advertisers returned to the platform and others increased their spend.

Yaccarino wrote a letter to employees on Wednesday blaming Media Matters for America, which highlighted anti-Semitic content on X and deterred advertisers, she said. Musk is now suing the watchdog.

“Giving in to outside criticism or pressure is simply not the way X will ever work,” Yaccarino wrote.

‘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.”

Musk himself has tried to limit the fallout from the November 15 tweet, saying on November 19: “Over the past week there have been hundreds of false media stories claiming that I am anti-Semitic.

He added: ‘Nothing could be further from the truth.

“I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all.”

Musk previously faced accusations of anti-Semitism after he compared Jewish financier George Soros to X-Men supervillain Magneto – a character who manipulates the world and believes mutants should be in charge, instead of humans.

He made the comments on Twitter in May, after announcing that Soros’ investment fund had dumped all his Tesla shares.

Musk responded to Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, saying the South African-born billionaire was not anti-Semitic but that his comments were dangerous.

“He is perhaps the most influential person in the world controlling what is essentially our public square. When he repeats conspiracy theories, it fuels the extremists,” Greenblatt said.

Musk responded, “Honestly, I have to admit that Joel has a good point and I’ll try to be more thoughtful in the future.”

He later corrected his tweet with “Jonathan.”

Musk continued, “The comic book analogies are clearly imperfect, to say the least.

‘Just because George Soros can bend metal with his mind doesn’t mean he’s Magneto!!

“Anyway, my real concern with Soros is that he has funded so many politicians and prosecutors who are even soft on violent crime, which in my opinion has caused great damage to many cities.

“While I strongly support expanding legal immigration, we must also control who comes in so we don’t allow dangerous criminals to attack innocent Americans.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Musk’s tweet had resulted in a flood of conspiracy theories and that the hashtag “The Jews” was trending on the platform.

Beam researchers found in June that the number of English-language anti-Semitic tweets has more than doubled since Musk acquired the company in October 2022.

He has threatened to sue the anti-hate organization the Anti-Defamation League for defamation after it criticized him for allowing anti-Semitic content online, but insists he is “against anti-Semitism of any kind.”

In September, Musk deviated from the topic of anti-Semitism when asked during an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister.

Musk declined to elaborate on the topic other than to say he is “clearly against it,” and instead spoke more generally about “hate speech.”

Netanyahu previously came to Musk’s defense when he was accused of repeat offense discriminatory statements about Jewish financier George Soros, and he introduced the topic by reiterating his belief that the Tesla boss does not hold anti-Jewish views.

“I know your opposition to anti-Semitism,” the 73-year-old Israeli leader told Musk during their X conversation.

“All I can say is that I hope that within the bounds of the First Amendment you can find the ability to not only stop or, as best as possible, reverse anti-Semitism, but also any collective hatred of a people who practice anti-Semitism.” represents.’

“Obviously I’m against anti-Semitism,” Musk replied. “I’m actually against anything that promotes hatred and conflict, and I’m in favor of whatever helps society and moves us toward a better future for humanity as a whole.”

But the SpaceX boss has not elaborated or defended his controversial statements about Soros, including the comparison to X-Men supervillain Magneto – a character who manipulates the world and believes mutants should be in charge instead of humans.

Regarding hate speech in general on

‘On any given day, around 100 to 200 million messages are posted on the system. This is a lot of material. Some of them will be bad.

“You can’t check it in advance, but you can say afterwards, ‘Oh, it’s being reported as hate speech.’

“We’re not going to promote the speech because that’s probably not what people want to hear.”