Twitter saw $1.3 billion in market value wiped out after a massive hack targeted Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, Elon Musk, and other prominent accounts

• Twitter's market value took a hit after a colossal hack compromised the accounts of politicians and tech leaders including Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk on Wednesday.
• Shares of Twitter dropped by more than 4% in premarket trading Thursday, wiping out as much as $1.3 billion in market value.
• The breach, which Twitter said was carried out after hackers gained access to internal tools that can manage and take over accounts, poses a risk to Twitter's reputation as a platform for public figures.

Twitter saw its market value drop Thursday after a widespread hack targeted major accounts on the platform including Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, Apple, Uber, and Elon Musk.

Shares of Twitter dropped by more than 4% in premarket trading, erasing roughly $1.3 billion in market value.

The hack was part of an apparent cryptocurrency scam — after taking over the high-profile accounts, hackers repeatedly posted messages urging people to send $1,000 in bitcoin and promising to double their profits. Some accounts were compromised for more than an hour before Twitter took control.

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The hack poses a threat to Twitter's reputation rather than a risk to near-term advertising revenue, analysts told Reuters.

Twitter said the breach took place after hackers gained access to internal tools by targeting a Twitter employee with social engineering. It also took the unusual step of disabling tweets from most verified accounts as it attempted to get a handle on the situation.