X Reportedly Targets $44 Billion Valuation in New Funding Round
X is reportedly in discussions to raise funds from investors at a $44 billion valuation.
That’s according to a report Wednesday (Feb. 19) from Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the matter. As the report notes, that figure is the same price owner Elon Musk paid for the social media platform — then called Twitter — in 2022.
The talks are still ongoing and the details could change, the report added. X could also abandon the discussion altogether, the report said.
The news follows reports from last month that Bank of America, Barclays and Morgan Stanley were preparing to sell up to $3 billion of debt holdings in X.
The platform had struggled following Musk’s takeover, with a number of advertisers leaving the site over concerns about a loosening of content moderation and turmoil surrounding the company’s management changes.
But advertisers have since begun returning to X. Last month saw reports that Amazon was considering upping its ad spending on the platform, with Apple weighing a return.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said in September 2023 that 1,500 advertisers had come back to the platform in the prior 12 weeks, with 90% of the company’s top 100 advertisers returning.
Yaccarino said that X had introduced new content moderation tools and features to prevent ads from appearing next to certain content, adding that these measures had been implemented following Musk’s acquisition of the company.
Meanwhile, X is continuing to work on its plans to become an “everything app” that includes payments. Last month, the company announced a partnership with Visa, using Visa Direct to move funds into X Money wallets which will be connected to debit cards and bank accounts.
In announcing the collaboration, Yaccarino said the companies’ joint efforts will allow “secure + instant funding” to an X Wallet.
“And it is the wallet, we note, that would be a linchpin for a variety of financial activities,” PYMNTS wrote last month.
Research from PYMNTs Intelligence has noted that digital wallets are finding wide embrace around the world as a main vehicle for payments, and in some cases, as a central access point for a range of non-payment activities, such as storing credentials.
Nearly half of all American consumers, the research found, use their digital wallets for online shopping, while 39% use them in-store.
“In other research, we’ve found that consumers were voicing that they’d trust a number of Big Tech names to store their payments credentials, which would pit those firms against traditional banks,” that report added.
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