Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found here.
Social network X’s valuation has surged to $44 billion, reflecting the company’s strong financial recovery since Elon Musk became a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump.
Investors valued the social media platform at $44 billion in a secondary deal struck earlier this month, according to two people familiar with the matter. The deal allows existing shareholders to exchange shares in the company.
X is also planning to raise more money in a primary round, aiming to raise about $2 billion through the issuance of new shares. The money would be used to pay down more than $1 billion in debt Musk took on when he acquired the company — then known as Twitter — in 2022.
Since taking over the platform, Musk has loosened its content moderation policies, prompting many advertisers to abandon the platform. In late September, reports from Fidelity Investments showed the company’s valuation had fallen below $10 billion. Musk had previously acquired Twitter for $44 billion.
The platform’s return to $44 billion is a significant milestone for Musk and X’s investors, which include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, 8VC, Goanna Capital, and Fidelity Investments. The deal will help determine the price of the upcoming funding round.
X’s revenue has declined since Musk took over, but according to two people familiar with the matter, the company will book about $1.2 billion in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in 2024 — roughly the same as it was before Musk took over.
Two other sources said Musk’s cost-cutting plans are showing positive signs, as the company’s revenue has begun to improve. However, another source noted that the EBITDA figure was “heavily adjusted.”
X declined to comment on the report.
A group of seven Wall Street banks, including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays and MUFG, sold nearly all of the $12.5 billion loan Musk used to finance his 2022 acquisition of Twitter. The banks have been saddled with the debt as Musk has sought to turn around X’s operations, as equity investors have revalued the company at a steep discount.
Investor interest in X’s financing has surged in the weeks since Trump’s November election victory, fueled by Musk’s close ties to the new administration, as an adviser to the president and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
Investor interest has also increased since Musk gave X investors a 25% stake in his artificial intelligence company xAI early last year. xAI is now valued at $45 billion, and the deal provides new guarantees to X’s creditors and adds to the platform’s valuation.
A banker familiar with the fundraising said the upcoming round will help X “resolve the last of its outstanding debt.”
The banks have agreed to give the company more time to raise equity or equity-equivalent financing to repay its debt. Banks sold more than $11 billion in loans in January and February, two sources said.
X has received a significant boost from big corporations like Amazon, which have ramped up advertising spending amid Musk’s increasingly close relationship with Trump.
X recently filed a lawsuit against a slew of major brands, including Nestlé, Lego, Pinterest and Shell, alleging they have illegally boycotted the platform in the past.
In addition to advertising, X is expanding its efforts to diversify its revenue streams and become what Musk calls “the everything app.” CEO Linda Yaccarino announced in January that the company would launch X Money, a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payments service, later this year, with Visa as its first partner.
X is also working closely with artificial intelligence company xAI to integrate AI technology into the platform. On Monday, X launched the latest version of its AI chatbot Grok 3 for premium users. According to a source familiar with the matter, X plans to use xAI’s AI technology to improve advertising effectiveness and develop new products.