Twitter, founded in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, officially launched in July of the same year. The platform grew quickly, reaching over 100 million users who generated 340 million tweets per day by 2012. Twitter, Inc., was located in San Francisco, California, and had more than 25 offices globally. A signature feature of the service was the requirement for posts to be brief. The platform initially limited posts to 140 characters, later increasing this to 280 characters in 2017. In 2023, character limits were removed for subscribed accounts. The majority of tweets are produced by a small fraction of users. In 2020, it was estimated that around 48 million accounts, or 15% of all accounts, were operated by internet bots instead of real users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The platform is currently owned by X Corp., the American company formed in March 2023 to succeed Twitter, Inc., after Elon Musk\u2019s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October 2022. Musk stated that his primary goal for the acquisition was to promote free speech on the platform. However, since Musk\u2019s takeover, Twitter has faced criticism for contributing to the spread of disinformation and hate speech. On June 5, 2023, Linda Yaccarino replaced Musk as CEO, while he remained as the chairman and chief technology officer. In July 2023, Musk announced the rebranding of Twitter to “X”, including the removal of its bird logo. The process was completed by May 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Musk’s takeover, app-tracking data has indicated that global usage of the platform has dropped by about 15%, compared to a 5-10% decline on other social media platforms. However, the platform has disputed these findings, with Musk saying in a May 2024 tweet that membership had increased to 600 million users. By October 2024, the platform was estimated to have lost around 80% of its value since Musk\u2019s acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n xAI recently completed a $5 billion fundraising round, with its valuation doubling to $50 billion in just six months. This increase in value has enabled some of Musk\u2019s backers, to recover their losses entirely through their shares in the AI startup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Major investors reaping the rewards of Musk\u2019s ventures include Fidelity, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and Silicon Valley venture firms Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The connections between Musk\u2019s businesses highlight the overlapping incentives for those who back his ventures, which also include electric-car maker Tesla and rocket builder SpaceX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of Musk\u2019s financial backers have justified their support of the takeover of Twitter as a bet on the billionaire himself and a way to remain closely aligned with his ventures. That strategy has been considered especially prescient, given Musk\u2019s growing influence and close relationship with president-elect Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are few adages in tech that really hold up,\u201d said one investor in Musk\u2019s companies. \u201cNever bet against Elon is one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n xAI has raised about $11 billion in capital from investors this year, needed for the huge spending required to build AI models and one of the world\u2019s largest clusters of supercomputers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rapid growth of xAI has provided a significant boost for Twitter equity investors, from whom Musk raised $7.1bn to finance the takeover. The remaining funds came from bank loans and Musk\u2019s personal wealth, including from selling Tesla shares. Banks such as Morgan Stanley and Barclays are holding around $13bn of Twitter debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the acquisition, the value of the social media platform has sharply declined as advertisers have abandoned the site over content moderation concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fidelity, which publicly discloses the value of its stake in X, has written down its investment by nearly 80 per cent, bringing its current value to $9.4bn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May, xAI carried out a $6 billion fundraising, its first major cash injection from external investors, which valued the startup at $24 billion. Many of Musk\u2019s X backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Prince Alwaleed and Fidelity chose to invest even more cash into the start-up deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a follow-up fundraising round in November, Musk allowed only previous xAI backers to make new investments. It reportedly raised $5 billion in a round that more than doubled its previous valuation to $50 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, X investors now hold 25% of xAI\u2019s equity across both fundraising rounds, with their stakes protected from dilution by new shares issued in the latest fundraising round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While these investments have been profitable, they also present complex challenges for investors involved in Musk\u2019s various companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to manage conflicts of interest on this sort of stuff,\u201d said an investor in one of the companies. \u201cYou have to be a fiduciary and you\u2019re on both sides.\u201d Musk did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rapid growth of xAI has helped many of Musk’s investors recover losses from his Twitter acquisition. However, this success also brings challenges, as investors must manage potential conflicts of interest from their stakes in multiple Musk companies. While the financial rewards have been significant, the complex relationships and interests make these investments far from straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disclaimer: This information is not considered as investment advice or an investment recommendation, but instead a marketing communication. IronFX is not responsible for any data or information provided by third parties referenced, or hyperlinked, in this communication.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Investors who faced significant losses after backing Elon Musk\u2019s…<\/p>\n![\"A](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/twitter-logo.gif\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nElon Musk’s acquisition and rebranding to X<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
XAI’s soaring valuation and recovery for investors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/xai-logo-mobile-phone.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nxAI’s funding journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
xAI fundraising boosts valuation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/twitter-logo-mobile-phone.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI<\/strong>n summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n