- Amazon will return to advertising on X after a year of absence, according to recent report.
Amazon is boosting its advertising spend on X, a year after many brands sought to leave after Elon Musk took ownership of the social media platform, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move comes weeks after Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos was seen socializing with the Tesla CEO and X owner during President Trump’s inauguration.
Musk helms the Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to eliminate more than $2 trillion in government debt.
During the second Trump Administration, billionaires have gravitated towards the president more so than Trump’s first term. During the inauguration, Trump was accompanied by the world’s most influential tech leaders such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Bezos. He’s also seen millions contributed to his inaugural fund.
Prior to the second Trump Administration, Musk and Bezos quarreled for years. Both lead space companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin, respectively, and have a history of exchanging passive aggressive social media posts with each other. Recently, the tone shifted.
On Jan.16, the day SpaceX and Blue Origin had space launches, Musk posted to X a gif from the movie Step Brothers with a caption, “Did we just become best friends?” The 2008 comedy stars actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as two emotionally immature adults who band together when their parents marry and hijinks ensue.
Signaling a budding relationship between the two, Bezos also took to X to post courtesies toward Musk and his SpaceX launch.
In October 2022, Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion. Shortly after his purchase, brands began to shrink their advertising initiatives on the platform and its revenue plummeted.
Major brands like CVS, Mars, and Unilever completely pulled X advertising campaigns. In response, X filed an antitrust lawsuit against the companies, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, and the World Federation of Advertisers for an illegal ad boycott on the social media platform.
In 2023, Amazon withdrew all its spending on the app, but now people close to the situation expect that to change, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to a report, Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy has been involved in the move in recent weeks as the company tries out ads.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.