• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Trump gamble keeps paying dividends as advertisers resume spending on X after high-profile departure

Christiaan Hetzner
By
Christiaan Hetzner
Christiaan Hetzner
Senior Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
Christiaan Hetzner
By
Christiaan Hetzner
Christiaan Hetzner
Senior Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 18, 2024, 8:19 AM ET
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk talk ring side during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024
Elon Musk now appears unstoppable thanks to his close relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.Chris Unger—Zuffa LLC/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Elon Musk high-risk gamble to back Donald Trump keeps paying handsome dividends, with the latest beneficiary now his popular yet financially troubled social media platform X. 

Recommended Video

Musk plunged the social media site formerly known as Twitter into a perilous state in November 2023 when he told companies that pulled their advertising in objection to his management of the platform to “go f— yourself”. 

Now a number of these brands, including Disney, are reported to be slowly returning, possibly as a result of the Tesla CEO and Trump campaigner’s close relationship with the President-elect. 

“We super appreciate major brands resuming advertising on our platform,” Musk posted late last week, thanking X CEO Linda Yaccarino for restoring advertiser confidence by ensuring brand safety. 

Politics could be a motivating factor. It seems there is nary a picture of Trump that doesn’t feature Musk right beside him, whether it’s on a plane, at a sporting event or at Mar-a-Lago.

Musk has already been tasked by Trump with eliminating government waste, and has gone so far as to threaten prosecutorial consequences for Trump’s opponents this past Saturday.

The list of returning advertisers reportedly includes major names including IBM, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney. (Fortune has reached out for comment).

Musk’s spat with Disney was particular bitter and public, with the X owner directing his ire at CEO Bob Iger by name on stage in a comment so disrespectful its sheer audacity became a popular meme in and of itself among Musk fans and Trump supporters.

Disney, which pulled its ad spending this time last year over concerns its ads might show up next to unsafe or undesirable content, confirmed in a statement to Fortune it had in fact returned to advertising on X. A spokesman for the entertainment giant denied however that this decision was connected with Trump’s election, since the company began spending ad dollars in the summer already—weeks if not months before the outcome was known.

Trump’s long history of helping friends and punishing enemies

Musk’s warning the “hammer of justice” is coming to those that sought to deny Trump his rightful ascendancy to the Oval Office may not be an idle prattle either now, given the possible appointment of Trump loyalist Matt Gaetz as attorney general, putting him in charge of the U.S Justice Department. Musk has threatened thermonuclear lawsuits against those that attacked his company, and already has sued a nonprofit responsible for advising brands on where to invest in advertising safely—a suit that resulted in the group’s closure.

“X’s owner now has the ear of the president-elect, a man who has a long history of helping his friends, and punishing his enemies,” said Max Willens, senior analyst at Emarketer, told industry publication Ad Week. “Sending at least a trickle of ad spending toward X may be seen as good for business, albeit in an indirect way.”

Musk already has seen the value of Tesla soar thanks in part to expectations the new administration will facilitate his autonomous driving plans, and he can certainly expect more business with the federal government for SpaceX—already a major NASA contractor under Biden. 

He shouldn’t celebrate just yet, however; a growing number of social media users have been migrating to rival platforms. According to data from Sensor Tower, the most downloaded free app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play in the U.S. market is currently Bluesky, with Meta’s Threads following close behind. By comparison X doesn’t even make the list at present. 

This has been spurred in part by a number of high-profile departures. Left-of-center U.K. daily The Guardian announced last week it is leaving to avoid assisting Musk’s aims to discredit the media. Horror novelist Stephen King told fans he would henceforth be found posting on Threads. 

Bluesky faces barrage of users reporting on each other

However, the “X-odus” remains a relative trickle — BlueSky reported its user count rose by nearly a fifth to hit 19 million, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the over half-billion users on X. It is unclear how many of BlueSky’s new users are fake users, spammers or sock puppet accounts run by bot farms, a problem that has plagued X/Twitter for years.

Moreover it is unclear whether users will prefer BlueSky given the difficulties of a small platform integrating so many new users at once. BlueSky Safety account reported on Friday it received more than 42,000 reports of harmful content in just 24 hours, already more than a tenth of the 360,000 for the entirety of last year. 

“We’re triaging this large queue,” it conceded, starting with the most offensive such as child sex abuse material. 

X users celebrated this as the latest example of the political left’s unbridled thirst for cancel culture. 

“It’s like a high school full of hall monitors,” one X user crowed.

This updates an earlier version of this story with a comment from Disney.

About the Author
Christiaan Hetzner
By Christiaan HetznerSenior Reporter
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Christiaan Hetzner is a former writer for Fortune, where he covered Europe’s changing business landscape.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

Taktile cofounders Maik Taro Wehmeyer (left) and Maximilian Eber (right) stand side by side, smiling at the camera.
Startups & VentureVenture Capital
Exclusive: Taktile raises $110 million from Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global to automate high-stakes financial decisions 
By Camila Grigera NaónJune 24, 2026
1 hour ago
price-of-oil-06-23-2026
Personal FinanceOil
Current price of oil as of June 24, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 24, 2026
1 hour ago
Sarah Youngwood, EVP and CFO at Nasdaq.
AICFO Daily
Nasdaq’s CFO says leaders must learn AI—not just their teams
By Sheryl EstradaJune 24, 2026
1 hour ago
Current price of silver as of Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Personal Financesilver
Current price of silver as of Wednesday, June 24, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago
steve
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
Steve Case: America was built by entrepreneurs. Here’s how we keep that edge for the next 250 years
By Steve CaseJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago
(left to right) Andrew Berman, Tal Peretz, and Vitor Balocco
AIVenture Capital
Exclusive: Vinod Khosla wanted ‘every available dollar’ of Runlayer’s funding round. It just raised $30 million to govern the agent workforce
By Lily Mae LazarusJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago

Most Popular

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion,but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
7 hours ago
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Banking
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
By Jim EdwardsJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
Real Estate
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
By Sydney LakeJune 22, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.