X will be profitable in 2024: CEO Linda Yaccarino
At the Code Conference in California, Linda Yaccarino, CEO of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, announced that the company will become profitable by early 2024. Even though it has faced profitability issues and was acquired by Elon Musk just a year ago, Yaccarino remains hopeful. Earlier in August, she had mentioned that X is nearing operational break-even and has experienced an all-time high in usage.
Advertisers returning and staff reductions
Yaccarino also shared that 90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to the platform in the past 12 weeks. It is also worth noting that X has recently reduced its staff size from 8,000 to around 1,500 to cut its costs. However, this move led to some controversy as laid-off employees have allegedly not received severance pay. X is also dealing with multiple lawsuits over unpaid rent for office spaces in various countries.
User engagement claims challenged
During the interview at the Code Conference, CNBC's Julia Boorstin questioned Yaccarino's claims about increased user engagement on X. Boorstin referred to data from app analytics firm Apptopia, which reported a 30% decrease in X downloads in the two months following its rebrand from Twitter. Apptopia also observed decreased web traffic and lower user numbers since before Twitter went public.
Struggles with advertiser retention and content issues
When questioned about reports that X's app users had dropped to 25th place, falling behind Samsung's clock app, Yaccarino claimed that the time people spend on X was improving, though she didn't give details. Since Musk took over the company in October 2022, X has had difficulty keeping advertisers due to concerns about their ads being placed near inappropriate content. Researchers and activist groups have noted a rise in hateful posts on the platform, which has exacerbated the issue.
