Twitter has arguably become a husk of its former self since Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform in 2022, which he rebranded X. The takeover and the controversial changes imposed by Musk led to an exodus of advertisers, which now includes himself. Tesla only spent $10,000 on X ads over the first two months of 2025, according to an SEC filing. Over the same time period in 2024, the Musk-led automaker spent $200,000 on advertisements on the platform. If advertisers were trying to kill X like he claimed in 2023, he’s one of them.
When Tesla’s board is offering a $1 trillion compensation package to Musk to remain CEO, $10,000 is a drop in the ocean. TechCrunch reported that the automaker spent far more money on services from other Musk-related companies. Tesla spent $800,000 to use one of SpaceX’s private jets last year. However, the figure was reduced to only $40,000 through February. It appears that Tesla’s sales slump may be affecting how the company operates. A 13% drop in deliveries through the first half of the year isn’t something that can be ignored.
It’s never a smart move to attack your customers
Musk has seemingly been at war with advertisers since his takeover of Twitter. In 2023, he claimed that these advertisers were trying to blackmail him with money, then publicly told the companies to “go f**k” themselves for refusing to buy ads on the platform. According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon and several other companies signed ad deals with X to avoid legal action. Musk would later walk back his comments because it’s not the most brilliant move to actively antagonize the entities you’re trying to sell ad space to.
Tesla might be on the other side of a courtroom in the near future. Last month, a federal judge ruled that Tesla drivers in California can file a class-action lawsuit against the electric automaker over its “Full Self-Driving” software. The decision questioned whether Tesla’s vehicles are equipped with sensors able to achieve high-level autonomy despite claims on the manufacturer’s website that argue otherwise. Certainly, Tesla will be able to settle any suit if humanoid robots make it a $5 trillion company.
