Ackman specifically highlighted X's crushing debt load — around $13 billion owed to a consortium of banks — as a sensible reason for Musk to agree to the deal and take a part of X public again. The Financial Times reported last month that banks are unhappy and .
Ackman made waves in a Sunday interview with The Wall Street Journal, where he said he would "absolutely" . If part of X were to debut on the market, it would likely be at a valuation far below the $44 billion Musk paid for it. Revenues have by double-digit percentages, according to Musk, and despite new X CEO Linda Yaccarino's reputation as an advertising maven, ad dollars have still not returned to pre-acquisition levels.
X also faces increased competition from Meta. Threads debuted with a splash but has struggled to retain users and has fallen off sharply in engagement, . Still, Meta has a hefty war chest, a deep engineering bench and existing relationships with major advertisers.
