Elon Musk says Twitter's ad revenue is down 50% and cash flow is negative

Elon Musk disclosed on Twitter Saturday that, due to a 50% drop in advertising revenue and a "heavy debt load," the platform still has a negative cash flow.

The billionaire owner tweeted Saturday, in response to business advice from a follower, "Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else."

The tweet is in stark contrast to his tone in April, when Musk told the BBC the platform is now "roughly breaking even" and that most of its advertisers have returned.

Ad revenue has been a contentious issue and an uphill battle for the site, after hordes of advertisers fled after Musk took over. Advertisers were concerned about content moderation, mass layoffs and general uncertainty about Twitter's future.

Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal marketing executive, recently took over the CEO position from Musk - he's likely betting on her advertising experience to bring them back.

The New York Times reported that Twitter's US advertising revenue from the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May was down 59% year-over-year, citing an internal presentation. (CNN has not viewed the presentation.)

Just 43% of Twitter's top 1,000 advertisers as of September, the month before Musk's takeover, were still advertising on the platform as of April, according to data provided to CNN by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower last month.