Fidelity reduces value of Musk’s X by 79 pc, platform likely worth $9.4 bn

San Francisco, Sep 30 (IANS) Global investment firm Fidelity has reduced the value of its holding in Elon Musk-run X (formerly Twitter) by a massive 78.7 per cent, which implies that the X social media platform is likely valued at just $9.4 billion.

The tech billionaire had bought the social media company for $44 billion in October 2022 after an intense drama.

As per new estimate from asset manager Fidelity, X is now valued at less than a quarter of its $44 billion purchase price (at August end), reports TechCrunch, citing its filings.

The fund now values its stake in X at approximately $4.18 million. In July, Fidelity valued its shares in X at about $5.5 million.

X, Fidelity or Musk did not immediately comment on the report based on regulatory disclosures.

In May, Musk-run artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI raised $6 billion to accelerate the research and development of future technologies. In a post, the X owner said the pre-money valuation was $18 billion.

xAI, which has unveiled an AI chatbot called ‘Grok’, raised funds from key investors, including Fidelity Management and Research.

In January this year, the global investment firm Fidelity marked down its investment in Musk-run X Holdings (the parent company of X) by a whopping 71.5 per cent from the original value.

Fidelity took a stake in X Corp for $300 million in October 2022 when Musk acquired the platform, formerly called Twitter, for $44 billion.

In 2023, Fidelity had cut the valuation by 65 per cent, and now, it has further cut X’s valuation in a new disclosure.

Musk had reportedly told bankers, after taking $13 billion in loan to fund his Twitter acquisition, that they will not lose any money on the deal. The debt is split between $6.5 billion of term loans, as well as $6 billion of senior and junior bonds and a $500 million revolver. Lenders were unlikely to get even 60 cents on the dollar for the bonds and loans.

–IANS

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