Elon Musk’s X sales rebound in UK despite ad boycott

Elon Musk’s X has posted a rebound in UK sales even after brands pulled millions in advertising spending because of safety fears.

The social media site, formerly known as Twitter, reported UK revenues of £46.4m in 2025, an increase of more than 60pc on the previous year. Pre-tax profit doubled to almost £1.6m, according to newly filed accounts at Companies House.

The figures suggest X’s UK business has proved resilient in the face of an advertising boycott that has seen scores of major brands pull campaigns from the site.

The company suffered a collapse in ad revenues following Mr Musk’s $44bn (£33bn) takeover, which saw the billionaire tear up content moderation policies.

Advertiser concerns heightened earlier this year after it emerged that X’s Grok chatbot was being used to undress women in photographs and generate child sexual abuse images.

Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into the issue, marking the first of its kind under new online safety laws, while the data watchdog is also carrying out its own review.

Mr Musk has fuelled tensions with brands after telling companies who withdrew from the site to “go f— yourself”, while he also filed a lawsuit against brands including Mars and Unilever over claims that they illegally conspired to withhold advertising revenues. A US judge dismissed the lawsuit earlier this year.

The latest accounts show X’s UK advertising revenues were broadly flat compared to the year before, at £22.9m, as brands continued to hold back spending.

X also suffered a $4.5m hit to ad revenue in the first quarter linked to the outbreak of the Iran war.

But overall sales rebounded thanks to a sharp increase in the amount of revenue generated from providing research and development and support services to its parent company. This rose to £23.6m, from £6.9m the previous year.

The figures highlight how X’s UK operations play a crucial role in providing expertise in areas such as software development, coding and advertising technology.

However, the increase in inter-company sales still failed to offset the impact of the ad boycott. X’s revenues remain less than a quarter of the £200m it posted in 2021 before Mr Musk’s takeover.

X recorded a sharp increase in staff costs, which more than tripled to £47m last year. This was driven by a jump in share-based payments to almost £29m from £1m previously.