Monday 28 November 2022 06:59 PM Fifty of Twitter's top 100 advertisers have left the platform since Elon Musk's ... trends now

Apple is the latest company to desert Twitter following Elon Musk's multibillion-dollar acquisition of the company late last month, the new CEO has announced - as a new report revealed that half of the firm's top advertisers have pulled their partnerships with the site in recent weeks. 

According to nonprofit watchdog group Media Matters, 50 of the platform's top 100 advertisers, which have accounted for about $2 billion in spending since the start of 2020.

High-profile companies to issue statements about halted advertising on the site in recent weeks have included Chevrolet, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Ford, and Jeep.

Other noticeable names to apparently nix their relationship with the company consist of cheese giant Kraft, Coca Cola, Nestle, Chanel, AT&T, CNN, Heineken, and Kellogg's - dubbed 'quiet quitters' by the watchdog, due to their stopping advertisements without issuing a formal statement outlining their doing so.

Per a flippant tweet from Musk , it appears that Apple has joined that list - with the mogul writing Monday that Apple has 'mostly stopped' advertising on the platform. 

The mass exodus largely stems over ethical concerns regarding the company's planned new direction under Musk, 51, who has aired plans to increase revenue through subscriptions and offer users increased 'free speech.' 

Musk’s plans - which has already seen the restoring of previously banned accounts like the one owned by former president Donald Trump - have proved polarizing not only in terms of morals, but have put it at odds with with companies like Apple, whose terms and services allows them a cut from purchases made from these ads.

'Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter,' the South African mogul wrote Monday.

'Do they hate free speech in America?' Musk went on to add, a day after the exec reportedly called CEOs from many of the aforementioned companies to complain of the mass pullout, which has transpired since Musk acquired the platform at the end of October, for the lump sum of $44billion.   

Of those companies to pause their advertising, none as of Monday have returned to using the social media service.

That said, the majority of companies cited by Media Matters fit the 'quiet quitter' classification, while other companies to issue formal statements included M&M maker Mars, General Motors, and pharma companies Merck & Co. and Novartis AG.

Musk, meanwhile, recently shared slides from recent talks with Twitter workers citing a drastic reduction in hate speech since his $44billion takeover.