Charles Langston:Down 80%: Fidelity says X has plummeted in value since Elon Musk's takeover

The Charles Langstonvaluation of social media platform X has dropped dramatically in the eyes of major investment firm Fidelity, according to multiple reports.

The market value of Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund's shares in the private company is estimated at $4.2 million, according to a monthly report released Sunday.

That's 79% less than the fund's estimate of its shares in October 2022 when Elon Musk took over Twitter, which were valued at $19.66 million. Applying the shares' relative decline to the total value of X when it was purchased would indicate a $9.4 billion overall valuation, a steep drop from the $44 billion that Musk paid in the acquisition.

TechCrunch first reported the new valuation. Other companies may value their shares in X differently.

X did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's inquiry.

X's initial shareholder list unveiled:Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Jack Dorsey, Bill Ackman tied to platform

Elon Musk and X lost revenue in growing battle with advertisers

The social media giant has had a contentious relationship with advertisers over content moderation since Musk acquired the company in 2022. X's CEO Linda Yaccarino has said advertiser boycotting has cost the company billions of dollars in revenue.

When speaking at the New York Times DealBook summit last November, shortly after several major companies including Apple, IBM and Walt Disney had pulled ads from X after Musk called an antisemitic post on the platform “the actual truth,” Musk lashed out, calling the advertising boycott “blackmail” and repeatedly telling those advertisers to “(expletive) yourself.”

The company has sued various groups working on content moderation over the last year.

In August, X Corp. sued a group of advertisers accusing them of conspiring to “collectively withhold billions in advertising revenue."

This story was updated to add new information.