Tesla Slashes Ad Spending on X to Near Zero
▼ Summary
– Tesla spent $400,000 on X advertising in 2024 but only $10,000 in the first two months of 2025, projecting a significant annual decrease.
– The company began advertising in late 2023 after Elon Musk yielded to shareholder pressure, using platforms like Google, YouTube, and X.
– Tesla paid SpaceX $800,000 in 2024 for private jet use but only $40,000 through February 2025, indicating a likely reduction this year.
– Security costs for Musk rose to $2.8 million in 2024, with Tesla paying his security company $500,000 through February 2025.
– xAI paid Tesla $198.3 million in 2024 and $36.8 million in early 2025, primarily for Megapack battery products used in data centers.
Tesla has dramatically reduced its advertising expenditure on the social media platform X, with recent filings revealing a sharp decline in spending for 2025. The electric vehicle manufacturer, which historically avoided paid promotions, allocated $400,000 to X ads throughout 2024 but has so far invested only $10,000 in the first two months of this year. If this trend continues, Tesla’s annual ad budget on the platform would total a mere $60,000, a fraction of last year’s outlay.
This pullback follows a broader shift in Tesla’s marketing approach. For years, the company relied on organic buzz and Elon Musk’s personal brand rather than traditional advertising. It wasn’t until 2023, under pressure from shareholders, that Tesla began experimenting with paid campaigns. Ads started appearing on Google, YouTube, and X in late 2023 and early 2024. While Google’s ad transparency database indicates Tesla still maintains roughly 700 active advertisements across its properties, spending on X has clearly dwindled.
Beyond advertising, Tesla’s financial disclosures reveal several other notable transactions involving Musk-affiliated companies. The automaker paid SpaceX approximately $800,000 in 2024 for use of a private jet, though that figure appears set to drop significantly in 2025, with only $40,000 paid through February. Security costs also saw an increase: Tesla paid a Musk-owned security firm $2.8 million in 2024, up from $2.4 million the previous year. Through the first two months of 2025, the company had already paid $500,000 for these services.
One of the most substantial intercompany transactions involved xAI, which paid Tesla $198.3 million in 2024, nearly all for Megapack battery storage products used at xAI’s Tennessee data center. An additional $36.8 million was paid in the first two months of 2025 for the same products.
The filings also show that Tesla paid $300,000 to Nova Sky Stories, a drone company owned by Musk’s brother Kimbal, for a performance at the “We, Robot” event in October 2024. Kimbal Musk has served on Tesla’s board for years.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment regarding its advertising strategy or recent financial disclosures.
(Source: TechCrunch)
