Elon Musk: Elon Musk’s ‘X’ group: What companies are part of it, what they do and all other details

While it may not have come as a shock, the announcement was a bit of a surprise. We are talking about Elon Musk’s decision to rebrand Twitter as ‘X’ app. You may think that it’s a rather new idea but it actually goes way back to 1999. Here we explain the origins of ‘X’, what companies are now part of it and other details.

When did the idea of ‘X’ come about?
In a tweet, author Walter Isaacson put some excerpts from his upcoming book on Musk. According to Isaacson, it was in 1999 that Musk registered X.com but it was meant to be more of a one-stop-shop for people’s financial needs. “It would be a one-stop everything-store for all financial needs: banking, digital purchases, checking, credit cards, investments, and loans. Transactions would be handled instantly, with no waiting for payments to clear. His insight was that money is simply an entry into a database, and he wanted to devise a way that all transactions were securely recorded in real time,” Isaacson wrote. It was also the name of Paypal, which Musk had co-founded.

According to multiple reports, Musk purchased the domain name X.com in 2017.
What is X group of companies?
Initially, the X group of companies — or X Corp — had SpaceX and Neuralink. Then Tesla became a part of it as well. Finally, in April 2023, Musk announced that Twitter ceased to exist as an independent company and was a part of the X Corp.
What are the main companies part of it?
SpaceX is a private space exploration company founded by Musk. The company’s goal is to make space travel more affordable and accessible. SpaceX has developed a number of innovative technologies, including reusable rockets and Dragon spacecraft.
Then there’s Neuralink. Neuralink is a neurotechnology company founded by Musk in 2016. The company wants to develop brain-computer interfaces that could allow people with disabilities to control devices with their minds. Neuralink has made progress in developing implantable brain chips that could one day be used to treat neurological disorders or even allow people to merge with artificial intelligence.
And of course, there’s Twitter, now officially known as X. In fact, Musk also revealed that X.com url would take you to Twitter.com. Musk spent a lot of his day tweeting about Twitter as X, what new logo it will have, and whether he should change the colour theme of Twitter from blue to black.