The advertising head at X, John Nitti, has exited after a relatively short stint in the role, another sign of the platform’s ongoing turbulence at its topmost levels of revenue. The departure was first reported by The Financial Times, and comes as the company is still trying to recover from a scandal over brand trust and ad sales in 2019 that prompted Mr. Musk to take ownership of it to manage it beyond what had been a strict oversight role.
A brief tenure with big hopes for advertiser recovery
Nitti was X’s global head of revenue operations and advertising innovation, and he became a central figure who helped connect product, sales and agency relationships. He was seen by industry insiders as a possible successor to former CEO Linda Yaccarino, who exited earlier this year. With nearly 10 years at Verizon and earlier senior roles at American Express, Nitti had the kind of blue-chip, performance-meets-brand expertise X needed if he was going to coax the cautious marketers back in.
The mandate was lofty: mend agency relations, modernize ad tools and restore normalcy for global brands. The role relied on the one thing advertisers hold above all else: stability — at a time when X had been anything but predictable.
Turbulence in the revenue engine at X continues
Nitti’s departure comes amid a series of high-profile exits that have shaken up X’s ranks. CFO Mahmoud Reza Banki exited recently, per reports, while finance and legal chiefs at Musk’s AI venture xAI also quit over the summer. Among executives, there was frustration too, reported The Financial Times, over sudden changes in strategy and decisions made unilaterally, such as a surprise ban on hashtags in advertising — a change that touches on creative, targeting and measurement for many campaigns.
For advertisers, rule changes without warning pose more than just an operational headache; they throw a wrench into brand safety, attribution and procurement planning. Agency chiefs often bake months of testing and approvals into the campaigns. When the playbook shifts while the plane’s in flight, dollars move to safer, more predictable environments.
Advertisers Remain Wary Despite Pitches
The revenue story of X has been hard to come by since Musk took over. Everyday Media Index observed deep falloffs in United States ad spend after the shift, with decreases of as much as 60% on some months vs. a year earlier. Brand-safety concerns bubbling in 2023 prompted major holding companies like GroupM and IPG Mediabrands to issue advisories for clients. There were some dollars trickling back for tests and tentpole moments, but the recovery was uneven in contrast to peers.
Marketers have also reported feeling strong-armed in light of lawsuits that accuse them of participating in boycotts; such litigation has been filed against companies like Shell and Pinterest, according to The Financial Times. At the same time, a couple of brands have come back through unheard-of deals tied to Musk’s AI projects and content pushes. The uneven picture leaves X with a smaller funnel: more targeted, controlled buys rather than sweeping brand commitments.
AI push and product whiplash challenge ad stability
Musk is pumping cash into xAI to rival OpenAI and DeepMind, an investment cycle that excites technologists but can unnerve an ad organization hunting for stable priorities. However, resources and attention are limited. When strategy zigzags among AI, new video ambitions, creator revenue shares and policy changes like the recently announced reopening of political ads (which undid a Twitter ban), you get product whiplash for marketers.
Even relatively minor changes have had an outsized effect. A ban on ad hashtags, for example, alters the creative canvas, influences social listening or search lift and complicates performance measurement. In a world where brand safety tools and third-party verification from the likes of DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science are table stakes, changing formats and policies require new rounds of testing — often with smaller budgets.
What Nitti’s exit means for X in the near term
The timing is tough. The year’s second half is an important period for retail, media and tech advertisers — and stability in sales leadership is important to closing significant commitments. Nitti’s exit could prolong “test and learn” behavior among agencies when X needs long-term deals and some demonstrable momentum.
Insider Intelligence analysts, among others, have modeled more tepid ad recovery at X versus other platforms due to brand safety perceptions and lower signal for performance marketers. The way forward is simple, if not easy: predictability from the policies, a visibly clear product road map and demonstrable brand-safety results. Without that, ad buyers will keep X in pilot mode, and apply scale elsewhere to channels with more consistent guardrails.
As for Nitti, his experience at Verizon and American Express indicates he won’t be on the bench long. For X, the challenge is right there in front of it: stabilize the ad organization, repair trust with agencies and provide structure to a platform that retains its cultural relevance but has yet to win back the confidence — much less budget dollars — of some of the world’s largest advertisers.
