SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter may now be worth one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social media platform just seven months ago.
Financial services company Fidelity has reduced the market value of its equity stake in Twitter for a third time, now putting it at $6.55 billion. That's down from the nearly $20 billion Fidelity valued its stake at in October.
It is unclear how Fidelity came up with its valuation figures, but as a public company it's required to provide investors with updates on its holdings. Because Twitter is a private company now called X Holdings Corp., information about its finances can’t be verified.
Musk took control of Twitter in October, after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty. The CEO of Tesla, who also owns SpaceX, bought Twitter for $44 billion.
The billionaire financed the purchase with funds including loans from a group of banks. Musk has said the $44 billion price tag for Twitter was too high but that the company had great potential.
In the ensuing months, Twitter was rocked by a mass exodus, shedding as many as 80% of its employees. It has also been grappling with the decisions of Musk at the helm, which critics say are pushing the platform to be less safe and more right-leaning.
By April Musk was telling the BBC that running Twitter has been “ quite painful ” but that the social media company is now roughly breaking even after he acquired it late last year. Musk predicted at the time that Twitter could become “cash flow positive” in the current quarter “if current trends continue.”