On October 27th, 2022, tech billionaire and prolific Twitter user Elon Musk bought the company and appointed himself CEO. The acquisition cost Musk a total of 44 billion U.S. dollars and came after he initially agreeing to purchase Twitter following a shock bid in April 2022. Musk previously stated his views that the platform does not support the principles of freedom of speech, and looks to make alterations, such as changes to current regulations, open-source algorithms, and the eradication of fake accounts.
The changing of the Twitter Blue feature was one of Musk’s first modifications as the company’s new CEO. Twitter’s blue tick verification was originally free and reserved for high-profile individuals, allowing users to recognize trustworthy sources. Musk announced that consumers will now have the option of becoming verified members for eight U.S. dollars per month. In addition, it is expected that the company's workforce will undergo significant adjustments.
Twitter’s company financials
In 2021, Twitter’s revenue amounted to over 5 billion U.S. dollars and the company incurred a net loss of 221 million U.S. dollars. Overall, the majority of Twitter’s revenues were generated via advertising, with a small portion being generated through data licensing. Twitter went public in November 2013 and is ranked as one of the largest internet companies in the United States with a market capitalization of 28.93 billion U.S. dollars as of February 2022.Twitter’s audience
As of the second quarter of 2022, Twitter had 237.8 million monetizable daily active users (mDAU), indicating steady growth in users in recent years. Although the micro-blogging platform is popular, its audience size does not compare with social media giants such as Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp – all of which have over 2 billion monthly active users. Twitter finds popularity amongst those aged 25 to 34 years, with this age group accounting for 38.5 percent of the social platform’s worldwide user base in 2021. Additionally, men made up 56.4 percent of Twitter’s audience.As of April 2022, former U.S. President Barack Obama was the most followed person on Twitter, with a total of over 131 million followers. Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Rihanna followed, all with over 100 million followers on the platform.