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Substack still isn\u2019t profitable despite attracting big names in the independent writer world, whose newsletters and blogs rake in a massive digital subscriber base for the platform. Hamish McKenzie, one of Substack\u2019s founders, told The New York<\/em> Times<\/em><\/a> that it could choose to be profitable but is focusing instead on \u201cinvesting in and continuing to grow the business.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to the Times<\/em>, X owner Elon Musk offered to acquire Substack during a phone call with its CEO, Chris Best, in April 2023. <\/em>Musk even reportedly suggested making Best \u201cchief executive of the combined company,\u201d but Best turned down the offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Substack has repeated the line that it could choose profitability if it wanted for years. Best said on Nilay Patel\u2019s Decoder<\/em> in 2020<\/a> that the company could become profitable \u201cquickly\u201d if its expenses didn\u2019t grow. But its \u201cfocus has always been on being very comfortably default alive\u201d \u2014 that is, growing and gathering investments. He also said, \u201c…unless you can raise money, the company is going to end.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Times<\/em> details several recent moves the company has made to grow its business and shore up funds. Those include raising money from its writers<\/a>\u00a0(something Axios<\/em> reports<\/a> it recently did again), starting its own Twitter competitor, Notes<\/a>, and betting on political content, which has done well on the platform.\u00a0The Times<\/em> writes that Mehdi Hasan\u2019s Substack-hosted political outlet Zeteo <\/em>is ranked fifth on the politics leaderboard, \u201cgenerating about $3.9 million\u201d annually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n