Elon Musk says X will amend its creator payouts policy to take no cut until a payout exceeds $100K, and plans to talk to Tim Cook about lower App Store fees

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@elonmusk 2023-08-03 Elon Musk

Context & Ripple Effects

This was an early effort to make X’s creator economics more favorable. It was followed days later by a lower eligibility bar for ad-revenue sharing, extending the platform’s bid to broaden participation rather than merely improve terms for established earners.

Subsequent coverage showed both scale and fragility: X reported nearly $20M in creator payouts, while creators later cited ad-business concerns and inconsistent payments. The later pause of audience-local payout rules underscores how sensitive creators are to changes in monetization mechanics.

First-order effects

X forgoes its payout cut for creators below the stated $100K threshold, improving the economics of monetizing on the platform for those accounts.
Musk’s planned discussion with Tim Cook puts App Store fees on X’s agenda, but does not itself change Apple’s fees or X’s distribution terms.

Second-order effects

The richer payout terms and later lower entry threshold increase pressure on X to make eligibility and payment calculations legible; creators will weigh the improved headline economics against the reliability concerns documented later.
If platform fees remain unchanged, X must absorb more of the cost of creator incentives or seek other ways to improve the economics of subscriptions and payouts.

Third-order effects

Creator monetization is becoming a configurable platform-policy lever—thresholds, eligibility, and revenue shares—not a fixed program; frequent revisions can make predictability as important as generosity.
The pattern points to an ongoing contest over who bears digital-distribution costs: platforms may use take-rate concessions to attract supply, while app-store fees remain a key constraint on their margins.

The trend: Social platforms are competing for creator supply by adjusting payout rules and revenue shares while navigating the costs imposed by mobile distribution gatekeepers.

Discussion

@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads
Someone tagged me a few days ago asking why I didn't take seriously that Twitter/X would become WeChat for the rest of the world. That's simple neither Apple nor Elon will allow it. WeChat is...
@heidibriones Heidi on x
Boom! Thank you, Elon. As a reminder please subscribe to me. 🙏 It helps me a lot. I don't make any money from this stuff unless people tip me or subscribe as this is a part-time thing for me. I know it's set at $10 right now, and that may be too much for some. I plan to lower it.…
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
@elonmusk Very curious what Mr. Cook says, please let us know.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
FTC notes, “forever.”
@oalexanderdk Oliver Alexander on x
It appears that Elon is feeling the pressure as there are only about 150,000 total subscriptions on the entire platform. Last week's data showed that only 19 accounts had over 1000 subscribers and 191 had over 100.
@oalexanderdk Oliver Alexander on x
Doing the maths on this: Current Twitter/X subscribers: 148,684 Total monthly revenue: Approx $670,000 Twitter/X's share: $67,000 Apple's share if Tim Cook agrees to Elon's plan: $20,100 Don't think Tim really cares about an amount lower than Apple's kombucha budget. [image]
@briannawu Brianna Wu on x
I think we should aggressively tax billionaires who have $44 billion to blow on nonsense and fund the arts instead.
@scottmelker @scottmelker on x
I love this. I've never really considered having a subscribe feature or subscribing to others, but strongly thinking about it now.
@billym2k Shibetoshi Nakamoto on x
@elonmusk yeah tim apple has enough money! give more to us tim!
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Musk-Cook discussion on 30% Apple Tax incoming. My view is, rather than signing special deals, Apple should outright stop blocking or taxing competing payment methods and competing stores. Then we'd have a free market as exists in all other areas of the American economy.
@daniellefong @daniellefong on x
kind of neat to see this sort of progressive taxation, X taking 0% up to 100k earnings
@wholemarsblog @wholemarsblog on x
@elonmusk that would be huge if you could get cook to make that change
@karissabe Karissa Bell on x
“I will speak with Tim Cook” ... Elon wants an exception to the “App Store tax” for creator payouts [image]
@sawyermerritt Sawyer Merritt on x
FYI: If you subscribe to your favorite creators on the https://x.com/ website instead of the X app, Apple can't take 30%, so that extra amount goes straight to the creators.
@chancehmiller Chance Miller on x
Chance Miller says he ‘will speak with Tim Cook’ about leaking the iPhone 15
@xdaily @xdaily on x
NEWS: Elon will speak with @tim_cook to see if Apple's 30% cut for creator subscriptions can be adjusted to be just 30% of what 𝕏 keeps in order to maximize what creators receive! [image]
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@xDaily This is bizarre. They want us to pay *them* for traffic to their site where they make advertising revenue and we don't!?
@xdaily @xdaily on x
NEWS: The AFP, a French news agency, has sued X/Twitter over its “ clear refusal” to pay compensation for news link posted to the platform. AFP said the aim of the case is to force X to hand over data that will allow the agency to estimate a fair level of compensation. https://t.…
@afpcom @afpcom on x
📣 #AFP Takes Legal Action Against #Twitter (recently rebranded as 'X') to Enforce News Agencies' and Publishers' Neighbouring Rights 👉🏻 https://t.co/... https://t.co/...
@bruno_j_navarro@mastodon.social Bruno J. Navarro on mastodon
Brian Hughes of American University, who is the co-founder of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL): “As normal people, for lack of a better term, continue to leave Twitter, that's actually going to cause probably a reduction in the use of the platfor…
@martinsfp.bsky.social @martinsfp.bsky.social on bluesky
“The clawing need to get attention from progressives seems to be driving these engagement farmers a little nuts, as they up the weird-and-evil ante, hoping to get those precious clicks and plays.” [embedded post]
@gindaanis @gindaanis on x
Putting this out there because with all love and respect, if it wasn't for leftists retweeting and arguing with white supremacists and all that's adjacent to them I wouldn't see most of it. You're not changing their minds. You're giving them access. https://t.co/...
@amandamarcotte Amanda Marcotte on x
At best, we have hours until the next indictments. Possibly days or weeks. So have some fun reading about how the collapse of Twitter is making life sad for some of the worst people online. Featured: Bari Weiss, Freddie deBoer, RFK Jr. Michael Tracey. https://t.co/...
@manigarm Dr. Holly Walters on x
How many times do we have to learn the same lesson. We keep telling you that algorithms don't differentiate between support clicks and hate clicks. These people's careers are made on rage-baiting you and you keep falling for it. https://t.co/...
@crashthompsonxo @crashthompsonxo on x
Lol. Yep. Block early, block often, do not engage. 🙏 https://t.co/...
@brosandprose Ella Dawson on x
“Grifters need people to harass and a mainstream discourse to counter. As traffic takes a nosedive and Twitter becomes less a part of the conversation, it's going to be harder for these folks to make money.” https://t.co/...
@letitmelo Melo on x
Wow it's like all you people QRTing “get a load of this guy” were actually propping up entire industries that exist soley to outrage you into QRTing “get a load of this guy” to prop up entire industries that exist soley to outrage you into QRTing “get a l https://t.co/...

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