Now that Musk has taken over, advertisers are abandoning the site.
Since closing the $44 billion deal, Musk has been busy dissolving the board. Sarah Personette, as well as senior executives, have left the company.
Musk has been very clear about his dislike for advertising for a long time.
The billionaire CEO is in serious damage mode after the uncertainty caused advertisers to pull out.
Musk is in New York this week trying to convince advertisers that he won't turn into a free-for-all hellscape.
The meetings have been productive, but a lot of other marketers are not happy.
Advertisers are grilling Musk over his plans to address the rampant misinformation being spread on the platform, a trend that Musk himself has been actively contributing to since acquiring the company.
He's antagonizing them publicly if he succeeds ineliorating advertisers in private. On Wednesday, Musk posted a poll asking users if advertisers should support either "freedom of speech" or "correctness", a type of false dichotomy that echoes the rhetoric of far-right conspiracy theorists.
The media buyer said that the provocations were not helping to calm the waters.
Some people are saying the same thing.
The global media director for the Nike-owned shoe brand Jordan said in a post that it's not a platform brands can advertise on unless new leaders are hired to keep the platform safe from hate speech.
Musk's plans for the social media platform are still murky. In addition to the behind-the-scenes advertising plays, he's also announced that users will have to pay to retain their verification badges, though he's engaged in a comically public negotiation as to what the cost would be.
Once we have a clear process for doing so, it will take at least a few more weeks.
Many people thought the move was a way to wait out the elections. In the past, it has been possible to sway elections with the help of social media.
Even though advertisers are running for the hills, Musk advertising is only a small part of the picture.
Musk wrote an open letter last week.
He wrote in the note that low relevancy ads are not necessarily bad.
Musk hasn't provided advertisers with a cohesive plan to pick up the pieces, which is a big problem.
Advertisers are going to think twice about continuing their business with the social networking site if he creates a new moderation council made up of people from all viewpoints.
With or without advertising, the finances of the micro-blogging site are in a very deep hole. It will take around $1 billion a year in interest to finance Musk's acquisition of the company.
Before Musk took over, the company lost hundreds of millions of dollars in one quarter.
It's not clear whether that picture will change in the face of a wintry economy.
Musk has proven his detractors wrong before. Anything is possible.
Advertisers start to grill Musk over free-for-all.
There is more on the story.
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