What's going on?

Twitter�s offering all kinds of carrots to lure advertisers back to the platform, according to reports out late last week.

What does this mean?

Twitter�s feeling the burn right now. As the economy cools and margins tighten, companies are cutting back on advertising budgets left, right, and center. But the cuts are also personal. See, ever since Musk began to relax the platform�s moderation policies, brands have been shunning the big blue bird. And we�re not talking about small fry: United Airlines, General Motors, and Mondelez are just some of the companies that have stopped running ads on the platform, putting a serious dent in Twitter�s $5 billion business. That�s bad news for Musk, who�s on the hook for $1 billion in yearly interest payments after borrowing big to buy the firm. His solution: offer big spenders all kinds of incentives, like matching spending over $500,000 and boosting impressions for high-rolling firms.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Actions have consequences.
Maybe firing half of Twitter wasn’t so clever: the ads team is now so small that some companies reportedly lack a contact at Twitter, which will hardly help boost sales. What�s more, experts aren�t sure the firm�s incentives will actually have much effect. A hard-won reputation can be destroyed in seconds � and advertisers might decide that Twitter�s discounts aren�t worth the risk of being associated with questionable content (tweet this).

Zooming out: Tesla aims low.
Musk�s got to be careful not to forget about Tesla, his other little hobby horse. Data out last week showed that the firm�s still sitting atop the EV throne in the US, with a 65% market share � but that number�s down from 79% back in 2020. Still, Musk�s got a plan: he recently announced that Tesla has a sub-$30,000 car in the pipeline, which he�ll be counting on to win buyers at the lower end of the market.