The world owes Elon Musk an apology: X is revalued at over $44 billion, about to pay off debt, reports $1.2 billion in profit, creating an unimaginable miracle

Last year, X’s value hit rock bottom, reaching only about $10 billion.

Social network X’s value has rebounded to $44 billion, showing 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 transaction earlier this month that allowed existing shareholders to exchange shares in the company, two people familiar with the matter said.

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 will be used to pay down the more than $1 billion in debt Musk took on when he acquired the company — then called Twitter — in 2022.

Since taking over the platform, Musk has loosened its content moderation policies, causing many advertisers to leave the platform. In late September, reports from Fidelity Investments showed that the company’s value had fallen below $10 billion. Musk had previously acquired Twitter for $44 billion.

The platform’s renewed valuation of $44 billion is a major 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 sources familiar with the matter, the company is on track to 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 started to improve. However, another source noted that the EBITDA figure was “heavily adjusted.”

Side X refused to comment on this information.

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, as equity investors have revalued the company at a steep discount.

Investor interest in X’s loans has surged in the weeks since Mr Trump’s victory in the November election, fuelled by Musk’s close ties to the new administration, as he is seen as an adviser to the president and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Investor interest also increased after Musk gave 25% of his artificial intelligence company xAI to X investors early last year. xAI is now valued at $45 billion, and the deal provided new guarantees for X’s creditors and helped boost the platform’s valuation.

A banker familiar with the fundraising said the upcoming round would help X “settle the last remaining debt.”

The banks have agreed to give the company more time to raise equity or equity-equivalent financing to repay its debt. Banks had previously sold more than $11 billion in loans in January and February, two sources said.

X has received a significant boost from major corporations like Amazon, which have ramped up advertising spending amid Musk’s increasingly close relationship with Mr. Trump.

X recently brought a slew of major brands, including Nestlé, Lego, Pinterest, and Shell, into a lawsuit, accusing the companies of illegally boycotting the platform in the past.

In addition to advertising, X is expanding its efforts to diversify its revenue streams and aims to 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.