Elon Musk forces firms to pay X $1,000 to keep gold ticks

Tech billionaire defends new fee amid plunging ad revenues

Elon Musk will force companies on X to pay at least $1,000 (£770) per month in order to keep their verified status on the platform.

From 7 August, any brand that does not pay the fee to the company formerly known as Twitter will lose the gold check mark that appears next to the account name.

The latest strategy, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes amid declining ad revenues and fresh competition from text-based platforms launched by Meta and TikTok.

Mr Musk responded to the report by stating that brands could also pay $1,000 per month for a verified organisation subscription.

“This more than pays for itself in organic reach,” he posted on X.

“The reason for the $1,000/ month is to set a moderately high bar to be a verified org, so that an org must be of non-trivial size to qualify and to make it expensive for scammers to create millions of accounts.”

Earlier this month, the tech billionaire revealed that the company was suffering from negative cash flow issues after advertising revenue dropped by 50 per cent following his $44 billion takeover of the platform.

Mr Musk has undertaken aggressive cost-cutting measures, which included firing more than 6,000 employees.

He has also appointed former advertising executive Linda Yaccarino as the firm’s CEO in an effort to woo advertisers.

The rebranding from Twitter to X could also open up new revenue streams, with Mr Musk planning to transform the social network into an “everything app” similar to China’s WeChat.

X has already secured money-transmitting licences in three US states, which will allow payments to be integrated into the platform.

Ms Yaccarino said on Monday that she believed X represented “the future state of unlimited interactivity”, integrating audio, video, messaging, and the ability to book and pay for goods and services.

Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” she posted on X.

“For years, fans and critics alike have pushed Twitter to dream bigger, to innovate faster, and to fulfil our great potential. X will do that and more.”