Fidelity Investments has reported that Twitter is now worth just one-third of the $44 billion that tech mogul Elon Musk paid for the social media giant about nine months ago. Fidelity holds a stake in Twitter after backing Musk’s takeover.
Bloomberg reports that Twitter is now only worth a third of the $44 billion that tech tycoon Elon Musk paid for the social media giant according to Fidelity Investments. “Twitter’s value has seen a significant decline since Musk’s takeover,” a Fidelity spokesperson said. “Our recent evaluation of our equity stake in the company reflects this downturn.”
Elon Musk, who paid $44 billion for Twitter, including $33.5 billion in equity, has openly acknowledged that he overpaid for the service. “Twitter is worth less than half what I paid for it,” Musk confessed in a recent statement.
In November, Fidelity reduced the value of its Twitter holding to 44 percent of the original purchase price. The platform then experienced additional markdowns in December and February, which highlighted its ongoing financial difficulties.
Twitter has been dealing with financial issues ever since Musk bought it. Under Musk’s management, the company has a $13 billion debt load. As Musk revealed in March, his erratic decision-making and difficulties with content moderation have caused a 50 percent decline in advertising revenue. Selling Twitter Blue subscriptions in an effort to make up for lost income has so far not been successful. Less than one percent of Twitter’s monthly users had signed up as of the end of March.
In April, Musk openly admitted that legal pressure was the driving force behind his purchase of the social media firm. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the most recent markdown subtracts about $850 million from Musk’s $187 billion fortune. Musk’s wealth has increased by more than $48 billion this year, largely as a result of a 63 percent increase in the share price of Tesla.
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan