8 ms·

Apparently Elon has been trying to push the "X" brand on things throughout his career, but always had someone stop him until he had complete control of things.

Apparently Elon has been trying to push the "X" brand on things throughout his career, but always had someone stop him until he had complete control of things. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.com_(bank) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.com_(bank) https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-paypal-twitter-x-rebrand/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-...

Hamuko 3y ago
Is there a company he owns where "X" is not a thing? There's X the social network, Tesla Model X, SpaceX.
- hyperhopper 3y ago
  He literally got removed from Paypal, "his first company" for trying to push the x.com thing there. That's why he owns the domain. It was stupid then and he held a grudge ever since which is why he's pushing it everywhere else since.
  - pavon 3y ago
    I haven't seen any strong evidence that that was the real reason he was ousted. It seems more to me like something that was too good not to go viral, rather than actual fact.
    - maxlamb 3y ago
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-paypal-twitter-x-rebrand/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-...
      - genewitch 3y ago
        who owns the washington post?
  - valianteffort 3y ago
    No he got removed for trying to switch their servers from linux to windows.
    - HillRat 3y ago
      He also got removed for creating systemic, existential risk for the company by handing out $10k line limit credit cards to anyone who wanted one, resulting in a 50% chargeback rate. There are so many reasons for them to have gotten rid of him that the answer is highly underdetermined.
      - Yeul 3y ago
        Interesting this got AliBaba into trouble with the CCP. As 2008 proved handing out credit can lead to disaster.
  - dboreham 3y ago
    He owned x.com before he went to PayPal (they acquired his company which was called: x.com). When ousted, the domain continued to be owned by PayPal until later they ended up selling it and eventually he bought it back.
    - Domenic_S 3y ago
      Correct! I had an @x.com email address when I worked at PayPal a long time ago.
      - dboreham 3y ago
        Fun fact: I worked with one of the people who owned x.com prior to Elon (and sold it to him, reputedly for more $$ than he wanted to pay).
  - PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
    There was quite an extended period where all the developer docs for PayPal were on x.com/something ... I found it all quite confusing.
  - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
    That’s not true. It was mostly over their servers. Elon Musk’s startup was running Windows while Peter Thiel and Max Levchin’s was running Linux. Musk wanted to migrate everything to Windows due to the more mature (at the time) APIs and Levchin was adamant on staying with Linux. He was also busy trying to fight fraud, which was becoming an existential threat to the company, and had no time for migrating to a different platform. Ultimately, Levchin gathered several other key people in the company, and went to the investors threatening to quit (and destroy the company) unless they brought back Thiel as CEO. The board sided with Levchin, Theil returned and Musk was out of day-to-day operations. If you’re interested in the PayPal story, I highly recommend Jimmy Soni’s book, The Founders. https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-Silicon/dp/1501197266 https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-...
    - rsynnott 3y ago
      “More mature (at the time) APIs” I mean, while nothing about the web was particularly mature at the time, the idea that Windows was more mature than Linux for it is… peculiar, from the point of view of someone who was messing around with web programming at the time. Note how much difficulty Microsoft had migrating Hotmail to Windows.
      - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
        Were you working in anything banking-related? AFIK, Microsoft was dominant in that sector.
- jsheard 3y ago
  Don't forget he also named one of his kids X (the Æ A-12 part is their middle name so it's just X for short). There's also xAI, which I think is technically another distinct company rather than part of X/Twitter.
  - denton-scratch 3y ago
    The guy's a kook. He's like Michael Jackson: a very rich guy, with complete control over who he meets. Unsurprisingly, the people he does meet all tell him what they think he wants to hear. I mean, who's going to tell him something he doesn't want to hear, and then see their name smeared all over Twitter by the richest man in the world? I expected Twitter to crash and burn as soon as he took over; I was wrong. I guess it's like Truth Social - if you're fabulously wealthy, you can run a social media site that's a complete train-wreck, without it ruining you. /me never had a Twitter account. Nor Faceache.
    - jrockway 3y ago
      Because Tesla has been significantly underperforming the rest of the S&P 500, Elon is not the world's richest person anymore. He's in like 4th place or something.
    - askafriend 3y ago
      Well Michael Jackson is also one of the most talented musicians and entertainers of the last 100yrs. His wealth is the least impressive or defining thing about him. I do get the point you're trying to make though. Just thought that emphasis was a little off. Just like with Elon, you have to consider that extreme outcomes are the result of extreme people or people that were forged in extreme circumstances (which is certainly true of Michael Jackson).
      - arp242 3y ago
        I feel both Musk and Jackson could have greatly benefited from a few more people telling them "you idiot, that's fucking mental". In general being in a position where this doesn't happen is not good for your sense of reality (very rich, very famous, a lot of political power, or something else). In that sense Michael Jackson having sleepovers in his bed with 12-year olds[1] and Musk's x.com rename are very similar. [1]: taking the most generous interpretation; no comment on whether he was a nonce or not.
- SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
  Ex-Wives
- extraduder_ire 3y ago
  The model X is part of a separate scheme, to have models S, 3, X, and Y. The 3 was initially meant to be an E until ford sued to prevent it.
elcritch 3y ago
Seems Musk always had a desire to use "X" from his pre-Paypal days. He made a boastful post about buying Twitter, didn't actually want to follow through but was forced to do it by the courts. My take is that Musk then sorta went "f-it, I had to buy Twitter. I might as well try and make it into X."
- leereeves 3y ago
  [flagged]
mocha_nate 3y ago
His first payment company before he merged with PayPal was X.com
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

Hamuko 3y ago

Is there a company he owns where "X" is not a thing? There's X the social network, Tesla Model X, SpaceX.

hyperhopper 3y ago
He literally got removed from Paypal, "his first company" for trying to push the x.com thing there. That's why he owns the domain. It was stupid then and he held a grudge ever since which is why he's pushing it everywhere else since.
- pavon 3y ago
  I haven't seen any strong evidence that that was the real reason he was ousted. It seems more to me like something that was too good not to go viral, rather than actual fact.
  - maxlamb 3y ago
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-paypal-twitter-x-rebrand/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/07/25/elon-musk-...
    - genewitch 3y ago
      who owns the washington post?
- valianteffort 3y ago
  No he got removed for trying to switch their servers from linux to windows.
  - HillRat 3y ago
    He also got removed for creating systemic, existential risk for the company by handing out $10k line limit credit cards to anyone who wanted one, resulting in a 50% chargeback rate. There are so many reasons for them to have gotten rid of him that the answer is highly underdetermined.
    - Yeul 3y ago
      Interesting this got AliBaba into trouble with the CCP. As 2008 proved handing out credit can lead to disaster.
- dboreham 3y ago
  He owned x.com before he went to PayPal (they acquired his company which was called: x.com). When ousted, the domain continued to be owned by PayPal until later they ended up selling it and eventually he bought it back.
  - Domenic_S 3y ago
    Correct! I had an @x.com email address when I worked at PayPal a long time ago.
    - dboreham 3y ago
      Fun fact: I worked with one of the people who owned x.com prior to Elon (and sold it to him, reputedly for more $$ than he wanted to pay).
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
  There was quite an extended period where all the developer docs for PayPal were on x.com/something ... I found it all quite confusing.
- AlchemistCamp 3y ago
  That’s not true. It was mostly over their servers. Elon Musk’s startup was running Windows while Peter Thiel and Max Levchin’s was running Linux. Musk wanted to migrate everything to Windows due to the more mature (at the time) APIs and Levchin was adamant on staying with Linux. He was also busy trying to fight fraud, which was becoming an existential threat to the company, and had no time for migrating to a different platform. Ultimately, Levchin gathered several other key people in the company, and went to the investors threatening to quit (and destroy the company) unless they brought back Thiel as CEO. The board sided with Levchin, Theil returned and Musk was out of day-to-day operations. If you’re interested in the PayPal story, I highly recommend Jimmy Soni’s book, The Founders. https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-Silicon/dp/1501197266 https://www.amazon.com/Founders-Paypal-Entrepreneurs-Shaped-...
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    “More mature (at the time) APIs” I mean, while nothing about the web was particularly mature at the time, the idea that Windows was more mature than Linux for it is… peculiar, from the point of view of someone who was messing around with web programming at the time. Note how much difficulty Microsoft had migrating Hotmail to Windows.
    - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
      Were you working in anything banking-related? AFIK, Microsoft was dominant in that sector.
jsheard 3y ago
Don't forget he also named one of his kids X (the Æ A-12 part is their middle name so it's just X for short). There's also xAI, which I think is technically another distinct company rather than part of X/Twitter.
- denton-scratch 3y ago
  The guy's a kook. He's like Michael Jackson: a very rich guy, with complete control over who he meets. Unsurprisingly, the people he does meet all tell him what they think he wants to hear. I mean, who's going to tell him something he doesn't want to hear, and then see their name smeared all over Twitter by the richest man in the world? I expected Twitter to crash and burn as soon as he took over; I was wrong. I guess it's like Truth Social - if you're fabulously wealthy, you can run a social media site that's a complete train-wreck, without it ruining you. /me never had a Twitter account. Nor Faceache.
  - jrockway 3y ago
    Because Tesla has been significantly underperforming the rest of the S&P 500, Elon is not the world's richest person anymore. He's in like 4th place or something.
  - askafriend 3y ago
    Well Michael Jackson is also one of the most talented musicians and entertainers of the last 100yrs. His wealth is the least impressive or defining thing about him. I do get the point you're trying to make though. Just thought that emphasis was a little off. Just like with Elon, you have to consider that extreme outcomes are the result of extreme people or people that were forged in extreme circumstances (which is certainly true of Michael Jackson).
    - arp242 3y ago
      I feel both Musk and Jackson could have greatly benefited from a few more people telling them "you idiot, that's fucking mental". In general being in a position where this doesn't happen is not good for your sense of reality (very rich, very famous, a lot of political power, or something else). In that sense Michael Jackson having sleepovers in his bed with 12-year olds[1] and Musk's x.com rename are very similar. [1]: taking the most generous interpretation; no comment on whether he was a nonce or not.
SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
Ex-Wives
extraduder_ire 3y ago
The model X is part of a separate scheme, to have models S, 3, X, and Y. The 3 was initially meant to be an E until ford sued to prevent it.

elcritch 3y ago

Seems Musk always had a desire to use "X" from his pre-Paypal days. He made a boastful post about buying Twitter, didn't actually want to follow through but was forced to do it by the courts. My take is that Musk then sorta went "f-it, I had to buy Twitter. I might as well try and make it into X."

leereeves 3y ago
[flagged]

mocha_nate 3y ago

His first payment company before he merged with PayPal was X.com

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]