Advertisement

Elon Musk Reveals Stunning Plan To Quintuple Twitter’s Revenue

Advertisement

OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


While details about billionaire Elon Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter have been known now for weeks, there has not been much public discussion about how his financial backers and shareholders will get a return on their investment.

Until now.

According to a report by Reuters, which cited The New York Times, Musk has unveiled a plan to his investors that calls for raising Twitter’s annual revenue from $5 billion last year to around $25.4 billion by 2028 — or quintuple its current level:

Advertising will fall to 45% of total revenue under Musk, down from about 90% in 2020, generating $12 billion in revenue in 2028, while subscriptions are expected to pull in another $10 billion, according to the report.

The head of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc also aims to increase Twitter’s cash flow to $3.2 billion in 2025 and $9.4 billion in 2028, the newspaper reported, citing the presentation.

Musk clinched a deal last month to buy Twitter for $44 billion in cash, in a move that will shift control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the Tesla Inc chief.

Advertisement

The SpaceX and Starlink CEO has promised to revitalize the social media platform and the underlying company as well while also expanding the number of users and eliminating as many spambots while also reducing content moderation and censorship to encourage more “free speech.”

After the deal closes, it is believed that Musk will temporarily take over as CEO according to a person familiar with the situation who discussed it with Reuters.

“Among his other goals, Musk expects the social media company to bring in $15 million from a payments business in 2023 that will grow to about $1.3 billion by 2028, the NYT cited the document as saying,” said Reuters.

Musk has said he believes he can boost the platform’s average revenue to $30.22 per user by 2028, up from $24.83 last year, the report added. In addition, he anticipates the company’s employee roster will grow from around 7,500 now to more than 11,000 by 2025.

“Revenue from Twitter Blue, the company’s premium subscription service launched last year, is expected to have 69 million users by 2025, the NYT reported,” Reuters added.

Regarding existing (and future) employees, Musk essentially put them on notice on Saturday when he tweeted about his expectations for the workforce.

“If Twitter acquisition completes, company will be super focused on hardcore software engineering, design, infosec & server hardware,” he wrote.

“I strongly believe that all managers in a technical area must be technically excellent. Managers in software must write great software or it’s like being a cavalry captain who can’t ride a horse!” he noted.

“Also, work ethic expectations would be extreme, but much less than I demand of myself,” the billionaire wrote.

Advertisement

Musk has not officially gained control over Twitter yet, but in anticipation of his purchase deal going through, the platform is getting a lot more attention.

According to Fortune, employment interest at Twitter following the SpaceX and Starlink founder’s buyout being accepted by the platform’s board of directors has skyrocketed:

It’s still unclear how a Musk-run Twitter might impact the company’s ability to retain current staff and recruit new employees. The company presented the takeover as a potential threat to its staffing abilities in an SEC filing Monday. 

Test your skills with this Quiz!

But at least casual interest in open positions at the company has skyrocketed since the Tesla billionaire showed serious interest in taking over the company. 

On Thursday, Daniel Zhao, a senior economist and data scientist at the job insights platform Glassdoor, tweeted that interest in job openings at the social media giant was up 263% between April 24 and April 30. 

“Some trivia: With the announcement of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition offer being accepted, interest in Twitter jobs on Glassdoor rose 263 percent last week (4/24-4/30), compared to the March 2022 baseline,” Zhao tweeted.

He followed that up with this: “Well, the above data is made more relevant by today’s news. Say what you will about Elon, he does have a large fanbase of ppl excited to work for him. He’s much more likely to capitalize on that attraction as CEO than owner.”

Advertisement