X (formally Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino sat down for an interview during Code Conference, claiming that the platform would turn a profit in “early 2024.”
While speaking with CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech Correspondent Julia Borrstin, Yaccarino touched on a number of subjects during a 40-minute interview. During which, Yaccarino discussed X’s profitability, as reported by TechCrunch.
“Now that I have immersed myself in the business, and we have a good set of eyes on what is predictable, what’s coming is that it looks like in early ’24, we will be turning a profit,” Yaccarino said onstage at the Code Conference.
What’s interesting is that throughout its first 13 years as an established company, Twitter (at the time) faced consistent hurdles to stay profitable. Adding to this, the company was purchased by Elon Musk nearly a year ago. Since that time, Musk has attempted to implement many profit-generating features and systems.
Yaccarino boasts that in the last three months or so “90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to the platform.” Yaccarino has previously been adamant that X could break even or even turn a profit in a short time. Even back in August, she stated that the company was “pretty close to break-even” thanks to advertisers who were supposedly coming back to the platform. It’s also worth noting that X has cut costs on staffing, shrinking the company down from 8,000 to around 1,500. Many employees who were laid off still have not received severance.
Additionally, it’s claimed that since June, user’s time spent on X has increased. However, Borrstin did push back on this, using data from app analytics company Apptopia. Recently, Apptopia released a report showing X downloads are down 30 percent since the rebrand to X. Web traffic is also said to be down lower than before Twitter became a public platform. However, Boorstin did not engage in specifics onstage with Yaccarino.
The interview continued, though it was a very awkward and uncomfortable interview. Prior to Yaccarino’s appearance, Code Conference hosted a discussion with former Twitter trust and safety head Yoel Roth. During the transition over into Musk’s ownership, tensions between Roth and Musk boiled over. Over claims of harassment and threats, Roth left the company in November 2022.
