Elon Musk's social media platform X has suffered a dramatic collapse in its UK financial performance, with annual revenues plummeting by almost 60% as major advertisers continue to withdraw spending over brand safety concerns.
Financial Freefall and Staff Cuts
The latest figures filed at Companies House reveal a stark picture for the company's British operations. UK revenues crashed by 58.3%, falling from £69.1 million in 2023 to just £28.9 million in the year to 31 December 2024. Pre-tax profits also nosedived, dropping from £2.2 million to £767,000 year-on-year. This represents a staggering decline from the £8.5 million in profits recorded in 2022, the year Musk completed his $44 billion takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The company directly attributed this severe downturn to a loss of advertising revenue. "The significant decrease in the performance of the company is a result of the decline of advertising revenue primarily driven by a reduction in spend from large brand advertisers due to concerns about brand safety, reputation and/or content moderation," X stated in its accounts.
This financial turmoil has been accompanied by deep staff cuts. Total UK employee numbers fell by a third last year alone, from 114 to 76. Since Musk's acquisition, the British workforce has been slashed by 80%, down from 399. The company reported recognising over £22 million in redundancy costs from the point of takeover until the end of 2024.
Advertiser Backlash and Musk's Confrontational Stance
The exodus of advertisers follows a series of controversies surrounding content on the platform and Musk's own conduct. In a notable incident in late 2023, Musk told advertisers who had pulled funding from X over his endorsement of an antisemitic post to "go fuck yourself" during a public interview.
Subsequently, the billionaire launched legal action against several major corporations, including Unilever, Mars, Nestlé, and Colgate-Palmolive, accusing them of unlawfully conspiring in a "massive advertiser boycott." While Unilever was later dropped from the lawsuit in 2024, proceedings against the other companies continue.
Grok AI Scandal and Platform Restrictions
Compounding X's troubles, the platform was forced to disable the image creation function on its generative AI tool, Grok, for most users last week. This move came after widespread reports and research found the tool was being used to create sexually explicit and violent imagery, including the digital manipulation of women's images to remove clothing.
The function has now been switched off for all non-paying subscribers. Users attempting to generate such images receive an automated response stating: "Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers." The restriction was implemented amid threats of fines and regulatory action from UK authorities, with reports even suggesting a potential ban on X in the country was being considered.
Despite the ongoing challenges, X's accounts maintain an optimistic outlook, claiming the platform has become the "platform of choice for world-changing conversations, events and breaking news." The company insists it is taking "proactive measures" to build brand safety tools and invest in content moderation, while working to educate advertisers about these initiatives.
