In a recent interview at Vox Media’s Code 2023 event, X CEO Linda Yaccarino revealed previously unknown statistics about the company. Yaccarino, who has only been in the position for 12 weeks, disclosed that X, formerly known as Twitter, has seen a decline in daily active users since Elon Musk took over. Currently, the company has 225 million daily active users, which is a drop of around 11.6% or tens of millions of users compared to before Musk’s acquisition. Last year, Musk himself tweeted that Twitter had 254.5 million daily active users the week before he took over. However, X revised its daily active user count to 245 million. Despite this decline, Yaccarino announced that X is projected to turn a profit by 2024 and mentioned that 90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to the platform in the last 12 weeks.
According to a report by Mashable, the decline in daily active users has persisted even compared to the numbers Musk shared when he was in charge. In mid-November 2022, Twitter had 259.4 million daily active users, but X has lost nearly 15 million users, constituting a drop of approximately 5.6%. Yaccarino briefly evaded the topic of user metrics during the interview but did note that X currently has 200-250 million daily active users and 550 million monthly active users. It remains unclear how much monthly active user growth has occurred under Musk’s leadership. Despite the decrease in daily active users, Yaccarino highlighted that engagement numbers have increased since June, and she expressed confidence in X’s profitability in 2024.
Overall, Yaccarino’s interview shed light on the challenges X is facing in terms of retaining daily active users after Elon Musk’s acquisition. While the company has experienced a decline in this aspect, it is actively working towards turning a profit and has witnessed a return of top advertisers to the platform. Despite the drop in numbers, Yaccarino remains optimistic about the future of X under her leadership.