REPORT: Top Advertisers Flock Back To X After Decisive Trump Victory

Some of the biggest corporate names in the U.S. marketplace are flocking back to X after previously fleeing the platform under Elon Musk’s ownership, a sign of how the entrepreneur’s fortunes have changed drastically following his full-throated support for President-elect Donald Trump.

The Western Journal reported that a slew of household names including IBM, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Lionsgate Entertainment have indicated they will be returning to the social media platform, which despite controversy remains the internet’s hub for breaking news. All were among a litany of businesses that left more than a year ago, citing increases in hostile posts which they accused Musk of allowing to proliferate. AdWeek reported that, from January to September, the four companies spent a combined $3.3 million in advertising on the platform, a 98% drop compared to their 2023 campaign budgets; that figure, however, may change along with their tune about how X is being run.

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“X’s owner now has the ear of the president-elect, a man who has a long history of helping his friends, and punishing his enemies,” said Max Willens, a senior analyst at Emarketer, about Musk. “Sending at least a trickle of ad spending toward X may be seen as good for business, albeit in an indirect way.”

After purchasing X, formerly known as Twitter, for a record $44 billion in 2023, Musk saw the platform’s valuation plummet in response to a string of controversial statements made by himself or users on the platform. Some, like white supremacist Nick Fuentes, were allowed to return to X after being banned under previous ownership, developments that were flagged by media outlets but defended by Musk as a necessary byproduct of unmitigated free speech. “Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes,” Musk said about the 26-year-old in 2023, according to Axios. “It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.”

All that be damned, Willens said, as advertisers seek to cater to the whims of the world’s richest man and someone who will not only have Trump’s ear, but will be taking a significant role in the administration as well. Trump last week announced that Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would head up a new U.S. Department of Government Efficiency dedicated to rooting out waste and abuse. “The advertisers that have returned to X this year are clearly interested in reaching that audience,” Willens said.

Meghan Fraze, chief product officer of MediaRadar, suggested that for now, smaller brands will see outsize benefits by paying for advertisements on X that are apt to be noticed by Musk. “This suggests that X might move to a long-tail advertiser strategy,” she told AdWeek. “This would benefit new brands that are looking for ways to connect with audiences without the intense competition. As X evolves, it could be forging an ad model that’s less dependent on the usual suspects.”