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Tech billionaire Elon Musk has become the first person to reach 200 million followers on X, the social media platform he acquired in October 2022 for $44 billion. Musk, the owner of X, now leads in followers ahead of former US President Barack Obama, who has 131.9 million, and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, with 113.2 million followers as of October 3.
Other celebrities in the top five include singer Justin Bieber, with 110.3 million followers, and Rihanna, who ranks fifth with 108.4 million. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently crossed the 100 million mark.
Musk recently revealed that X has over 600 million monthly active users (MAUs) and around 300 million daily active users (DAUs). However, there have been reports suggesting that a significant number of Musk’s followers may be inactive or fake accounts, though no official statement has been made regarding these claims.
According to Musk, X has evolved into “the group chat for Earth,” with global users driving its traffic. He has expressed ambitions of transforming X into an “everything app,” enabling users to share media, make payments, and engage in various other activities.
Despite this growth in users, X faces financial challenges. Earlier this week, Fidelity, a global investment firm, cut the value of its stake in X by 78.7%, implying that the platform’s current value is around $9.4 billion, significantly lower than the original $44 billion purchase price. Neither X nor Musk has commented on this valuation report.
