--- title: "Elon Musk Desperately Wants Control Over Your Personal Finances" description: "Elon Musk is finally getting the \"everything app\" of his dreams — or is at least ordering Twitter employees to build out his vision for one. " date: "2023-10-27" modified: "2023-10-27" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-twitter-finances-banking" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Finance" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "linda yaccarino" - "paypal" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Desperately Wants Control Over Your Personal Finances ![Elon Musk is finally getting the "everything app" of his dreams — or is at least ordering Twitter employees to build out his vision for one. ]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Twitter-formerly-X owner Elon Musk is, apparently, finally getting the "[everything app]()" of his dreams — or is at least ordering his employees to build out his vision for one. In the first all-hands meeting since renaming the company on Thursday, [per audio acquired by *The Verge*,]() Musk told employees that he sees the app becoming a payment platform by the end of 2024. "It would blow my mind," the billionaire said, "if we don’t have that rolled out by the end of next year." X's new-ish CEO Linda Yaccarino echoed Musk's sentiments and said that she sees a "full opportunity" for Twitter payments in the next year, too. As *The Verge* notes, the meeting was the first time the CEO and owner have addressed employees and taken their questions in a formal setting together. But whether Musk's vision will end up coming to fruition in [such a short timespan]() — let alone if enough people are willing to hand over their banking information to a company that's [billions of dollars in debt]() — remains to be seen. And it's not just basic banking information Musk wants from you. "When I say payments, I actually mean someone’s entire financial life," the multi-hyphenate social network owner said. "If it involves money. It’ll be on our platform. Money or securities or whatever. So, it’s not just like, send $20 to my friend. I’m talking about, like, you won’t need a bank account." To make that happen, Musk, who has apparently been working on this shift since the site was still called Twitter, said that he intends to secure the licensing to make money transfers within "the next few months." Notably, Musk didn't address the Federal Trade Commission's [ongoing investigation into Twitter's privacy practices]() or the agency's allegations that his ownership "may have jeopardized data privacy and security," all of which could undermine the company's efforts to get into your bank account. In the same call, the X owner spoke to his longstanding desire for an "everything app," and took it all the way back to his [PayPal Mafia]() days — though to him, it was [better known as X.com](), his banking platform that he merged with PayPal. "The X/PayPal product roadmap was written by myself and David Sacks actually in July of 2000," Musk told what remains of his staff. "And for some reason PayPal, once it became eBay, not only did they not implement the rest of the list, but they actually rolled back a bunch of key features, which is crazy. So PayPal is actually a less complete product than what we came up with in July of 2000, so 23 years ago." He didn't add one important piece of context to that curious little story: that after he merged his banking site, X.com, with Peter Thiel's PayPal-owning company Confinity, [he was ousted as CEO]() after trying to shift the branding away from the PayPal name and towards the letter X. After his dismissal, PayPal has become an immensely successful fintech company. More on X: *[Twitter Use Has Absolutely Plummeted Since Elon Musk Took Over]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()