Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), faced another significant disruption Friday afternoon, severely affecting users across the United States. This outage, which lasted for several hours, compounded existing challenges for Musk, whose $44 billion investment in X seemed to be under increasing strain.

The incident, which occurred at around 2:30 PM ET, left users unable to access the platform or use its services, and a massive wave of complaints flooded outage-monitoring websites like Downdetector.

As the outage stretched into the afternoon, over 50,000 reports from frustrated users were logged, with most of the problems appearing to be concentrated in the eastern half of the United States. The technical glitch initially seemed to impact larger metropolitan areas along the East Coast, but the biggest trouble zones were found in major cities in the Midwest, including Dallas, Chicago, and Minneapolis. Meanwhile, X users from other cities like Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York also reported being unable to log in or use the platform’s services.

For many, this latest failure served as a painful reminder of the ongoing issues Musk has faced in his stewardship of X. In just a few hours, this outage wiped out millions of dollars from the value of the platform, exacerbating concerns about the long-term viability of Musk’s $44 billion acquisition in 2022.

While the platform’s stock value did not immediately drop in response to the outage—holding steady at around $43 per share on the day—the long-term effects on the company’s reputation could be far more significant.

As the outage persisted, frustration from X’s users began to boil over. Many took to other social media platforms to vent their dissatisfaction, with some even taking aim directly at Musk, pointing out the irony of the richest man in the world struggling to maintain the service he purchased for an eye-watering $44 billion. One user, visibly frustrated, tweeted: “Elon is literally the richest man alive and is still unable to keep his d*mn website up, DO YOUR JOB.”

Beyond the inconvenience of being unable to access their accounts, many X users feared that they had been banned from the platform, only to be greeted by error messages stating they were not authorized to use the service. This led to confusion, as users speculated that they had somehow violated platform policies, only to later realize that the outage was more widespread than initially thought.

While the technical issues were certainly frustrating for everyday users, they also raised important questions about the infrastructure behind X’s platform, which has struggled with reliability in recent months. Musk’s efforts to overhaul the platform and introduce new features—such as Grok 3, X’s own version of the AI chatbot—appear to be backfiring.

Users reported issues accessing even these new features during the outage, further highlighting the fragility of the platform’s technical backbone.

Despite the mounting frustrations, the outage did not seem to have an immediate effect on X’s valuation on Wall Street. According to reports from the Financial Times, X’s current valuation remains pegged at $44 billion—the same price Musk paid to acquire Twitter back in 2022.

X’s stock held steady at $43 per share, despite the widespread outage and the negative press surrounding it. This stability may have been due to the fact that investors have come to accept the volatility and technical glitches as a regular part of X’s operations under Musk’s ownership.

However, many in the tech and financial sectors continue to question whether Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the platform will ever yield the returns he anticipated. As X struggles to meet user expectations for uptime and reliability, doubts persist about Musk’s ability to turn the platform into a profitable venture.

For a man accustomed to success in business ventures like Tesla and SpaceX, this social media acquisition has proven to be a far more difficult challenge.

This latest outage is just the tip of the iceberg for Musk, who is grappling with growing tensions surrounding not just X, but also his electric vehicle company, Tesla. Protests at Tesla dealerships have increased recently, with crowds gathering in protest and even setting some of the company’s EVs on fire.

These protests come at a time when Tesla is under intense scrutiny from both consumers and regulators, and Musk’s handling of the situation has done little to quell the unrest.

In addition to the protests, Tesla dealerships have also become the target of more sinister actions. Just days before the X outage, multiple incendiary devices were found inside a Tesla showroom in Austin, Texas.

The Austin Police Department responded to an anonymous tip-off on Monday morning, leading to a bomb scare at one of the company’s flagship stores. This follows a pattern of escalating threats against Musk’s companies, further compounding the pressures on him.

These mounting challenges come at a time when Musk’s influence and reputation are being tested on multiple fronts. As CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has cultivated a persona as a visionary entrepreneur capable of achieving the seemingly impossible.

Yet, with his $44 billion purchase of X now facing technical issues, user backlash, and a challenging financial environment, his leadership is being scrutinized more than ever.

For all of Musk’s previous successes, it seems the road ahead for X will not be smooth. With technical outages continuing to plague the platform, user dissatisfaction growing, and financial analysts questioning the platform’s long-term viability, the once-promising acquisition is now facing an uncertain future.

Musk has made numerous changes to X in an effort to revive its fortunes, from rebranding the platform to introducing new features like Grok 3. However, as Friday’s outage demonstrated, the platform’s core technical infrastructure remains fragile, making it difficult to maintain the kind of stability that users expect from a social media giant.

As for Musk’s response to this latest setback, there has been no official comment from X regarding the outage, and Musk himself has yet to address the issue publicly. Whether or not Musk can overcome these ongoing challenges remains to be seen.

However, if these technical difficulties continue and the platform fails to deliver on its promises, Musk’s $44 billion investment in X may become an increasingly difficult one to justify.

In conclusion, while X’s $44 billion valuation remains intact for now, the platform’s recent outage, coupled with Musk’s other business challenges, raises significant questions about its future. If X is to survive and thrive under Musk’s ownership, the platform will need to address its ongoing technical issues, improve user satisfaction, and find a way to differentiate itself in an increasingly crowded social media market.

Only time will tell whether Musk can restore the faith of users and investors alike or whether X’s turbulent journey will ultimately prove to be a costly misstep in his otherwise successful business career.