X will launch two new tiers of subscriptions for Premium users “soon,” according to owner Elon Musk, offering little details except that one option will cost more but allow users to avoid ads.
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 24: A photo illustration of the new Twitter logo on July 24, 2023 in London, England. Elon Musk has revealed today a new logo for Twitter, which constitutes the letter ‘X’ as part of a rebrand of the company. (Photo Illustration by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
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Key Takeaways
- Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, has been trying different ways to generate revenue from the platform.
- Many advertisers left X after Musk took over and fired many of its employees.
- Musk blamed the loss of ad revenue on “activist groups pressuring advertisers” despite “nothing” changing with content moderation.
- Musk did not say how much the different tiers would cost.
Key Background
In addition to the new paid Premium subscription tiers, X said it will start charging new, unverified users $1 a year for the most basic features, such as posting and reposting, to help reduce the number of bots flooding the platform. New users who don’t subscribe to the new “Not A Bot” program will only be able to “Read posts, Watch videos, and Follow accounts.”
The program has started in New Zealand and the Philippines. In a livestream last month, Musk said X was “moving toward having a small monthly payment for use of the X system.” Certain features on the platform are already behind the X Premium paywall, which costs $8 a month, such as blue verification check marks, and the ability to edit posts.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth to be $229.7 billion, making him the richest person in the world. He lost $24 billion after Tesla’s share price fell almost 9% Thursday morning.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
