Twitter Records $270 million Loss, Blames Elon Musk For Revenue Decline

Twitter has blamed Tesla Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, for its shrinking revenue which fell -0.8% in the second quarter of this year, amid faceoff between both parties over the takeover deal.

The social media’s revenue for the period under review fell to $1.18 billion, failing to surpass the $1.19 billion generated during the corresponding period of last year second quarter.

Twitter had also reported that unlike the $66 million profit recorded in Q2 last year, the company suffered $270 million net loss during the same period this year.

According to the Q2 2022 financial statements, Twitter believes the uncertainty regarding Musk acquiring the company affected its revenue, couple with report that advertisers are panicking as they don’t know the billionaire’s intention regarding ad policy.

In its view, “uncertainty related to the pending acquisition of Twitter by an affiliate of Elon Musk” is part of the challenges facing its revenue generation capacity. Twitter also blamed ad industry problems and the economic environment.

With the acquisition battle between Musk and Twitter lingering into October 2022, the impact on the company’s revenue might stretch into the third and fourth quarter of this year.

Prime Business Africa had reported that Musk terminated the deal after accusing Twitter of breaching their agreement. He said access to the user data, which he requested for was not granted.

Although Twitter faulted his statement, disclosing that the company offered information to the investors based on the agreement for the $44 billion acquisition deal.

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Musk, and the judge has approved October for the beginning of the trial. Musk had demanded that the date be set for February, but the judge disagreed.