Elon Musk’s company, X, is planning to generate new revenue by selling off old Twitter handles, according to a report by Forbes. The company has been seeking up to $50,000 from potential buyers for these handles. Emails viewed by Forbes reporter Alex Konrad, sent by current X employees, suggest that the company is making prized account names available for sale. X’s inactive account policy encourages users to log in within 30 days to prevent their accounts from being removed.
This move comes as X is facing a significant advertising revenue shortfall after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter last November. Over the past year, some advertisers have either stopped or drastically reduced their spending on X due to concerns about the content it hosts and the efficacy of its ad platform. Data from marketing consultancy Ebiquity revealed that the vast majority of the world’s biggest-spending advertisers have dropped X since Musk’s acquisition. Additionally, an analysis by Guideline found that X’s US ad revenue has declined by 55% or more each month since the takeover.
Despite these challenges, X executives have expressed optimism about the company’s ad business. CEO Linda Yaccarino stated in a September interview that 90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to X in the past twelve weeks alone. In an effort to address the drop-off in advertising revenue, X has turned to subscriptions. The company launched a paid premium offering last year, which was updated last month to include different tiers with enhanced features and no ads. Musk also announced that X Premium+ subscribers would have early access to the upcoming ChatGPT rival, Grok.
Advertising accounted for 90% of X’s revenue in 2021, as stated in its last publicly reported financial results. Musk has expressed his desire for the company to derive approximately half of its revenue from subscriptions. To further emphasize its value, X recently awarded stock grants to employees, indicating a company worth of around $19 billion, less than half of Musk’s $44 billion acquisition cost.
X has yet to respond to requests for comment on its plan to sell off old Twitter handles. With this new strategy, the company aims to generate additional revenue and overcome the challenges it has faced since Musk took over.
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