Twitter: X marks the spot for Elon Musk's growth plans

Last year, Twitter's revenue was $5 billion. The report also reveals plans to launch a new service called X, targeting nine million subscribers in the first year and 104 million in 2028. Tech industry analyst Kyle Reese said the target was "very close given the state of global affairs and industry."

The NYT said the disclosure was presented on a "phone platform" to investors "over the past few days." This suggests that Musk expects Twitter users to grow from more than 200 million last year to more than 900 million by 2028.

The document also shows that the number of employees on Twitter will increase by 3,600 by 2025. However, the NYT says the number of employees will fluctuate in the short term. Musk recently tweeted that employees should anticipate work ethic expectations that are "extreme but far lower than what I ask of me."

Subscription services will account for the bulk of Twitter's revenue growth, expected to generate nearly $10 billion by 2028. Part of that source of revenue, the document says, will be a mysterious new product called X, the details of which have yet to be announced.

Twitter Blue subscribers are projected to grow to 69 million in 2025 and 159 million in 2028. Twitter Blue already exists and offers users in countries that provide features like an unsweet button and no ads for $3 per month.

Mr. Rees of Gartner, a market research firm, told the news that "much of this target depends on the platform's growing number of users and subscribers."

But he added: "Here's an entrepreneur with a proven track record of entering an industry that supports positions and successfully challenges the status quo.

"Whether it's payments, satellites, spaceships, cars, and now social media, [Mr] Musk has the skills to drive entire categories of products and services, and I suspect that's part of what we see here. "Everything is fascinating. But we have to see if it leads to success."