Elon Musk's X has fired its chief marketing officer and laid off more than 20 nontechnical staffers in a bid to cut costs and integrate operations with SpaceX, setting the stage for a potential $1 trillion-plus IPO of its parent company, people familiar with the matter said.

Angela Zepeda, hired as marketing chief in September 2024, was let go last month following Musk's announcement merging xAI with SpaceX. The layoffs targeted roles seen as redundant within the combined entity, which merged with xAI last year and with SpaceX in February. Remaining staff have been instructed to focus on boosting revenue, with xAI's Jon Shulkin brought in as chief revenue officer to address lagging ad and enterprise AI sales.

X's ad revenue is projected to grow modestly, with U.S. sales expected to rise 1.5% to $1.27 billion and global sales 2.2% to $2.19 billion. This follows Twitter's $4.51 billion in 2021, the last year of public disclosure before Musk took the company private. The restructuring reflects broader changes since the xAI-SpaceX merger, including departures from xAI and team restructures, signaling a strategic pivot towards cost efficiency and integration ahead of the IPO.