Elon Musk has always had a fascination with the letter X.
Now, he is rebranding Twitter with the letter X, replacing the iconic blue bird logo, as he tries to make his $44 billion acquisition truly his own.
related investing news
Musk’s vision for X is similar to China’s WeChat, a comprehensive app that offers entertainment, online shopping, updates, and messaging. However, this rebrand comes after months of erratic behavior by Musk, which turned off users and advertisers, leaving Twitter in a vulnerable financial position.
This decision to kill off an iconic internet brand is considered a risky move, especially with rival apps like Instagram Threads and emerging competitors like Bluesky attracting users.
According to analyst Mike Proulx from Forrester, Musk has essentially erased 15 years of cultural significance associated with the Twitter brand.
The company did not provide a comment for this story.
This move is not entirely surprising, as Musk had already changed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp and viewed the acquisition as a step towards creating an all-encompassing app called X.
The letter X is significant in Musk’s other ventures, such as SpaceX and his previous payments company, X.com.
Renaming web companies has become common, with Facebook becoming Meta and Google adopting the name Alphabet. However, in those cases, the core services of the companies remained unchanged.
Musk seems determined to eliminate Twitter entirely. He recently introduced the new X logo and announced in a tweet that the Twitter brand and its bird logo will soon be gone.
Linda Yaccarino, the CEO hired by Musk, stated in an email to employees that the company will continue to provide new experiences in various areas, including audio, video, messaging, payments, and banking.
However, achieving Musk’s vision for X as a super app requires significant investment in time, money, and resources, which Twitter currently lacks. Musk previously mentioned a 50% drop in advertising revenue for Twitter, emphasizing the need for positive cash flow.
Some advertisers have been apprehensive about promoting their products on Twitter due to the platform’s issues with hate speech and offensive comments. Musk attempted to address this decline in advertising revenue with a premium subscription service, but it would require a substantial number of subscribers to compensate for the losses.
Remaining advertisers on the platform will need to adjust to the new changes. Over the years, Twitter has developed a recognizable brand and terminology, such as “tweets.”
Analysts from William Blair noted that advertisers they surveyed did not indicate an increase in spending on Twitter. Meanwhile, the overall digital ad market shows signs of improvement.
Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg views the rebrand as a negative development for Twitter users and advertisers, signaling the end of the Twitter we have known for the past 17 years.
In her statement, Enberg asserts that Elon Musk has always been the most likely “Twitter killer.”
WATCH: Elon Musk wouldn’t be who he is without ‘demon mode’ and his drive, says biographer Isaacson