Elon Musk says Twitter still in ‘negative cash flow’ due to 50% drop in advertising, debt

Elon Musk revealed Saturday that Twitter’s cash flow is still negative due to a drop in advertising on the site and a "heavy debt load" following his $44 billion buy last year. 

"We’re still negative cash flow, due to — 50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load," the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who is Twitter’s executive chairman, said in response to a user who suggested the platform recapitalize. "Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else."

Advertisers began to leave the platform after he bought it last fall — leaving Twitter with roughly $1.5 billion in annual interest payments — and controversial decisions after, including laying off around 80% of staff and making changes to content moderation like reinstating accounts that had previously been banned from the site. 

In April, Musk told BBC News the layoffs were "painful" but necessary because the company was in a "$3 billion negative cash flow situation" when he bought it.

Elon Musk said Saturday that Twitter is still in a negative cash flow.  (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File / Getty Images)