X Corp.
is an American technology company established by Elon Musk in 2023 as the successor to Twitter, Inc. It is a wholly owned division of X Holdings Corp., which is itself owned by Musk. The company owns the social networking service Twitter (currently rebranding to X) and has announced plans to use it as a base for other offerings.[2]
History[edit]
Conceptualization and planning (2022–2023)[edit]
In April 2022, filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed Musk had formed three corporate entities in Delaware, all under the name of X Holdings. According to the filings, one of the entities was to merge with Twitter, Inc., while another was to serve as the parent company of the newly merged company. A third entity would then help take on a US$13 billion loan provided by various large banks to acquire Twitter.[3] The name "X" dates back to X.com, an online bank co-founded by Musk in 1999. In March 2000, X.com merged with competitor Confinity to create PayPal. Musk considered forming a holding company named "X" for Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX in August 2012.[5] In July 2017, Musk reacquired the domain X.com, for an undisclosed amount, from PayPal.[6] Musk reaffirmed his support for the name "X" in December 2020, replying to a Twitter user who renewed calls for Musk to form a new holding company under that name, although he dismissed the idea of X acquiring his businesses.[7]
The concept for X solidified in October 2022, when Musk tweeted that acquiring Twitter is "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app". According to Musk, Twitter would accelerate the creation of X by "3 to 5 years". Musk expressed interest in creating an app similar to WeChat—a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app—on a podcast in May 2022.[8] In June, Musk told Twitter employees that Twitter is a "digital town square" that should be all-encompassing, like WeChat.[9] In a Morgan Stanley conference in March 2023, Musk touted X once again as the potentially "biggest financial institution in the world".[10] On October 27, 2022, Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, and subsequently became its CEO.[11]
Formation (2023–present)[edit]
In March 2023, Musk registered X Corp. in Nevada. On the same day, Musk registered the artificial intelligence (AI) company X.AI.[12] Later that month, Musk applied to merge X Holdings I with X Holdings Corp. and Twitter, Inc. with X Corp.[3] In the filing, Musk revealed that X Holdings Corp. has $2 million in capital; X Holdings Corp. will also serve as the parent company for X Corp.[13] In a company-wide email that month, Musk announced that Twitter employees will receive stock in X Corp.[14]
In an April 2023 court filing for an ongoing lawsuit filed by right-wing political activist Laura Loomer against Twitter and its former CEO Jack Dorsey, Twitter, Inc. notified the court that it had been consolidated into X Corp., a Nevada corporation based in Carson City. A similar filing was made in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.[15]
On May 11, 2023, Musk tweeted that he had found his replacement as Twitter and X Corp.'s CEO. The next day, on May 12, he named Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO, adding that she "will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology".[16] Musk said he will transition his role to executive chairman and chief technology officer.[17] Yaccarino succeeded Musk on June 5, 2023.[18]
Fidelity Investments estimated the company's value at $15 billion in June 2023.[19]
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