Elon Musk has sold X to himself for $45 billion
Elon Musk has transferred ownership of X, previously Twitter, to himself through a transaction worth $45 billion (£34.7 billion). The deal values the social platform at $33 billion (£25 billion) with $12 billion (£9 billion) in liabilities. The SpaceX founder acquired the social network in 2022 for $44 billion (£34 billion) and entered the headquarters carrying a sink as a visual pun.
Numerous employees subsequently lost their positions, with some later invited back to their recently terminated roles. This pattern later became common for many federal workers after Donald Trump reclaimed power and appointed Musk to his administration.
After purchasing the platform, Musk rebranded it to 'X', launched a premium subscription for verification badges, and implemented various new capabilities including his AI assistant 'Grok'.
The transaction was completed entirely with stock, shifting the platform's ownership to xAI, an artificial intelligence company Musk established in 2023. On his platform, Musk wrote: "xAI and X's futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent."
He continued: "This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI's advanced AI capability and expertise with X's massive reach. The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge."
Musk further stated that xAI had reached a valuation of $80 billion (£61 billion). Despite reportedly losing about £41 billion in personal wealth since early 2025, Musk remains the wealthiest individual globally. The decrease in his fortune stems partly from Tesla stock declining after consumer boycotts of the electric vehicle manufacturer. These boycotts relate to Musk's connections with the Trump administration and controversy surrounding a gesture he made twice during Trump's inauguration.
