X isn’t dying after all—far from it.
On Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal, banks sold $5.5 billion in debt backed by X at 97 cents on the dollar, beating expectations. “Elon Musk’s power in Washington and the return of big advertisers like Amazon.com have Wall Street clamoring to get a piece of X,” reads the report. (Who calls it Amazon.com!)
In response to the news, here’s what Elon had to say:
Why It Matters:
I mean… we told you so, right? Here’s what we wrote the night of the election, following Donald Trump’s win:
Is X still not brand safe?
X has faced major brand safety issues ever since Musk took over, resulting in a 50% drop in ad revenue. Under his rule, the platform’s relaxed content moderation policies have continued to raise concerns with top advertisers who understandably don’t want to appear next to hate speech or misinformation. Despite (varied) efforts to address these issues, X has struggled to regain advertiser trust. In fact, they’ve resorted to lawsuits and threats of government investigations.
Complicating matters, Musk himself has become a walking, talking brand safety risk. He frequently shares misinformation and makes controversial statements, many of which are seen as racist, anti-LGBTQ, or just plain creepy.
For brands, the question now is: with Musk’s influence stronger than ever, how do you avoid running ads on X? If the American people voted for Trump, they voted for Musk, no? How is he then “not brand safe”? This is tough to reconcile. As a platform, X is also now poised to play an even larger role in shaping the political agenda, with Musk’s posts potentially reflecting or foreshadowing the administration’s stance on regulations.
Additionally, with a rightward shift in government, brands may feel greater pressure to avoid “blocking” ads from conservative-leaning media and platforms. They will be wary of potential investigations or backlash. Can you blame them?
The net of this is, brands that previously distanced themselves from X are likely to now reconsider. This will give the platform’s ad revenue a new lease of life and potentially reshape the broader walled garden ad market.
All of this holds up today—if anything, even more so.
Experts React:
Our Take:
I’ve been critical of X—we all have at some point—but there’s no denying that it is likely the most influential social media platform in the world right now. That influence doesn’t always translate directly to ROI or campaign performance, but, hey, influence trumps all. And brands will pay for that. (As we’re already seeing with Amazon, Apple, and others.)
