I think you have it backwards, or at least you're missing half of the equation. The influencers are also valuable to Twitter, not just the other way around.
Exactly this. Also, AFAIK most large content sponsorship deals take place off the platform between independent business entities. Most sponsored content on YouTube works like this, and YouTube doesn't get a single cent from most of those deals, only a share of video ads revenue. How Twitter can do any better here remains to be seen, and ceding control of the client certainly won't make it any easier.
