The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is worth less than half the amount Elon Musk paid for it a year ago.

The company is now valued at about $19 billion based on restricted stock units granted to employees, or $45 per share, according to a person familiar with the matter. Musk bought Twitter just one year ago for $44 billion.

Since completing the acquisition, Twitter has laid off most employees or accepted their resignations. Musk also changed the company's name to X, changed some of its content rules, and lost more than half of his advertising revenue. Fortune magazine was the first to publish the news of the company's decline in valuation earlier, citing an internal memo.

What did Musk do to X?

The company struggled financially under Musk's ownership. At the time of the acquisition, Twitter was valued at approximately $44 billion, and the deal was concluded using a combination of debt and equity. But Musk's purchase left the company with an additional $13 billion in debt, and over time, his haphazard decision-making and more lax content safety rules alienated advertisers, contributing to a 60% drop in sales. Ax also owes about $1.2 billion in interest payments annually on its debt, according to estimates previously published by Bloomberg.

Elon Musk is considering imposing a monthly subscription on X users

Musk plans to shift X from relying on advertising revenue to a paid subscription system. But so far, the company has convinced less than 1% of users to subscribe to its premium monthly service, which equates to less than $120 million annually, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Musk's plan to recover X

Musk has revealed that he wants to turn X into an all-in-one app, where it can generate revenue from features like shopping and payments. The company launched a voice and video calling service earlier this month, has a trial version of its job advertising service, and intends to launch a news agency. Musk told employees that X plans to compete with Google's YouTube, Microsoft's LinkedIn, and Cision's PR Newswire.

How is X doing a year after Musk acquired Twitter?

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Musk previously indicated his desire to take X public for an IPO, but the sharp decline in the company's value may hinder this step.