Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast. This is a show where we discuss the critical Crossroads, The Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company, and Neuralink. And I'm your host, Will Walden. Investment firm Fidelity has adjusted its valuation of shares in X Holdings, which is a company previously recognized as Twitter.
Now, this adjustment comes as part of the mutual fund giant's ongoing assessment of its investment, originally made when Elon Musk acquired the company for $44 billion. Fidelity's recent disclosure, which includes data up to the end of November 23, reveals a significant markdown in the value of X Holdings and the mutual fund company now assesses X Holdings to be worth 71.5% less than its value at the time of purchase. This revelation includes a 10.7%
reduction during November alone. This markdown period coincided with a controversial moment from Elon Musk, the head of X Holdings. In November during an on stage interview with the New York Times, Musk responded to boycotting X advertisers with the expletive laden remark Go F yourself. The statement possibly impacted the perception and the value of the company now comparing to
other companies in the sector. Meta's stock rose by 4.9% in November, while Snap experienced an impressive 38.2% increase in their shares. These figures highlight the differing fortunes of companies within the tech industry and provide a contrast to the situation at X. Now, looking back, Fidelity started marking down its investment in the company immediately after Musk's
takeover. However, it's notable that there were periods early in 2023 when Fidelity either increased the value of these shares or maintain their stability. Now this indicates fluctuations in the company's perceived worth. It's important to note that Fidelity, despite being a shareholder and the privately held X Holdings, may not have extensive insider information about the company's financial performance.
This means that their valuation could be based on very limited data and other stair holders might have different views on the worth of the stock now. X Holdings, in a move that caught media attention, briefly reinstated headlines recently too. And this is for user posts containing links. This happened on Tuesday of this week, only to reverse this change the following day. This fluctuation in the platform's features reflects ongoing adjustments under the new ownership of Elon Musk.
Things happen at X really fast. Move fast and break stuff, as they used to say in Silicon Valley. Now this alteration came, and after X had initially removed news, links and headlines from post in October following Musk's assertion that such changes would enhance the platform's aesthetics. The removal, however, required users to click on an image to view the title, leading to some
confusion and criticism. Musk had promised in late November that headlines would be reintegrated into the platform in an upcoming release, suggesting they would be overlaid on the image or the URL card. And now this change aimed to address user concerns about the accessibility and the clarity of linked content. Indeed, posts on X with links now feature headlines, though presented differently than before.
The temporary change on Tuesday showed headlines in small text at the bottom of the image of a URL card, specifically on the desktop version of the platform. However, this update did not extend to all versions of the app. The change was not implemented in the iOS app and the Android app. Headlines continue to appear under the image as they did before the removal, highlighting inconsistencies in the platform's user experience
across different devices. Some users on the web version of X are now seeing headlines and website titles appearing over the images that link to those pages. This changed. While a positive, development is not without its issues, such as truncated headlines and very hard to read small text. The initial decision to remove headlines was driven by Musk's desire to streamline the
appearance of posts. However, this led to difficulties in understanding where a link image would redirect users, prompting workarounds like embedding headlines and images or post text. And Musk's promise to reinstate headlines over URL cards is
gradually coming to fruition. As evidenced by these recent changes, however, the rollout of this feature is inconsistent, particularly on Android and iOS, and the valuation and functionality changes that X Holdings reflect the complex and often unpredictable nature of the tech industry and social
media. Fidelity's markdown of X shares, coupled with the platform's evolving interface shows that there are challenges faced when you take over a company, a legacy company like Twitter. The situation at X Holdings is a microcosm of the larger tech industry as well, where innovation, public perception and market dynamics interplay to
shape the fortunes of companies. And as X continues to adjust, Musk's leadership, its impact on the sector and the stakeholders and the money people remains a subject of keen interest.
Now, Fidelity's decision to reduce the valuation of its shares in X Holding in conjunction with the company's ongoing adjustments to this platform shows that it's often volatile at Twitter, formerly Twitter X. But X will continue to adapt strategies, have responsive leadership and navigate the complexities of a new platform. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your support.
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