X, formerly known as Twitter, launched two new tiers of Premium subscriptions—including Premium+, which eliminates ads in For You and Following—amid its declining ad revenue.
Key facts
- Premium+, which costs $16 a month or $168 a year, also boosts subscribers’ replies to the top of a post compared to replies from unverified users and Basic subscribers—another newly launched tier.
- Subscribers to the top tier also get full access to X’s Creator Hub, which gives them a share of revenue generated from ads on their posts.
- Basic subscriptions cost $3 a month and give subscribers some Premium features, like editing posts, but owner Elon Musk previously said the lower tier has no reduction in ads.
- Musk is leaning on subscriptions as a way to generate revenue from X, which has lost several advertisers since Musk took over a year ago.
- Musk has blamed the loss of ad revenue on “activist groups pressuring advertisers,” though the platform has also faced widespread criticism for loosening content guidelines and faced accusations of promoting misinformation.
Key background
The platform also recently launched the “Not A Bot” program in New Zealand and the Philippines, charging new, unverified users $1 a year to use basic features such as posting and reposting on X. Musk said in a livestream last month that the platform was “moving toward having a small monthly payment for use of the X system.” Certain features such as blue verification check marks and the ability to edit posts were already part of the Premium subscription that costs $8 a month.
Forbes valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth to be $221.6 billion, making him the richest person in the world.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
