Big Tech

Brazil Blocking Musk’s X Costs Millions of Users, Little in Sales

Country accounted for only 2% of sales before billionaire’s takeover, sources say

Market research company eMarketer estimates that X has just over 40 million monthly users in Brazil.

Photographer: Tuane Fernandes/Bloomberg
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Brazil’s ban of Elon Musk’s social network, X, will have little impact on the business, which has long relied on the South American nation for user growth and cultural influence but less so for revenue.

Brazil has historically been a small part of X’s total business despite being one of the services’ largest markets in terms of users, according to several former employees, who declined to be named sharing private figures. Annual revenue from Brazil was $80 million to $100 million in 2021, the last full year before Musk’s takeover, these people said. That amounted to about 2% of the company’s total sales.