Fidelity Values Twitter At Roughly $15 Billion—A Third Of The Sticker Price Paid By Musk

Twitter is now worth one-third of the $44 billion Elon Musk paid to acquire the social media platform, according to Fidelity, which has repeatedly slashed the value of their Twitter stake in previous months.

Twitter has been valued at one-third of the price Elon Musk purchased it for last year. (AP ... [+] Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

The reduction brings Twitter's implied valuation to about $15 billion, nearly six months after it was purchased by Musk for $44 billion.

In March, Musk offered Twitter employees stock awards based on a $20 billion valuation.

Musk admitted in April his purchase of Twitter was not "financially smart," saying in an interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson that it remained to be seen whether the acquisition was a sound financial decision.

Fidelity owned about $20 million worth of Twitter before it was sold to Musk—the investment company reported a 56% markdown last November, when its stake was valued at nearly $8.6 million, and a 9.6% markdown the next month.

Fidelity reported in a filing that its stake was worth $6.55 million as of late April.

Musk's acquisition of Twitter was a lengthy transaction for the company, as it adopted a poison pill defense commonly used to ward off hostile takeovers by diluting shares. The then-public company's stock had significantly declined in the year leading up to Musk taking it private through his purchase. After the buyout, Twitter's revenue fell by 50% due to a "massive decline" in advertising, according to Musk, who also warned staffers the company could go bankrupt without significant subscription revenue. Tesla shareholders were concerned Musk's position as Twitter CEO was distracting him from issues hindering the electric automaker. Earlier this month, Musk announced NBCUniversal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino would soon take over as CEO. Yaccarino managed a team of 2,000 who generated more than $100 billion in ad sales during her time at NBCUniversal.

We estimate Musk to be worth $198.4 billion, making him the second richest person in the world behind French luxury brand mogul Bernard Arnault.

Twitter Is Now Worth Just 33% of Elon Musk's Purchase Price, Fidelity Says (Bloomberg)

Musk Admits Twitter Purchase Wasn't ‘Financially Smart’—And He Paid Twice What It's Worth (Forbes)