--- title: "Elon Musk Seizes @X Account From Guy Who Owned It" description: "After abruptly changing Twitter's name to \"X,\" Elon Musk has also taken over the handle associated with the letter." date: "2023-07-26" modified: "2023-07-26" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-seizes-x-account" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "social media" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Seizes @X Account From Guy Who Owned It ![After abruptly changing Twitter's name to "X," Elon Musk has also taken over the handle associated with the letter.]() *\Image: Chesnot via Getty / Futurism\* ## X Marks After abruptly [changing Twitter's name]() to "X," erstwhile CEO Elon Musk has also taken over the handle associated with the letter — without compensating the person who owned it before. In an [interview with *Mashable*](), Gene X Hwang, the previous owner of the @X account, said that he wasn't paid a dime after the company seized the account he'd held for nearly 16 years. Instead, he "got an email basically saying they are taking it." A cofounder of the San Francisco-based event photography company Orange Photography, [Hwang told *Mashable* in an earlier interview]() that he was among the earliest adopters of Twitter because, living in the Bay Area, he had friends who used or worked at the social network. Back in the early aughts of 2006, it wasn't hard for him to register a single-letter username, so he took the letter "X" for his middle name and used it until, well, this week. ## Consolation Prizes Hwang told *Mashable* that after [Musk announced]() that he was changing the site's name to X, he'd expected the account to be commandeered eventually, though he hoped he'd be offered some money once that inevitability occurred — especially since there had been some previous chatter that the company might[ auction off rare handles]() to the highest bidder. Alas, there were no dice when the account was taken, though Twitter did offer him a few drab accouterments: some company swag, an offer to meet management, and "an alternative handle with the history of the @x account." It's unclear whether the swag will be X-branded or Twitter-branded, and whether the "management" Hwang was offered to be put in touch with includes Musk. Hwang's new handle, @x12345678998765, is nowhere near as cool as the old one. Nevertheless, the entrepreneur doesn't seem too concerned about the entire situation, [tweeting from his random string of letters and numbers]() that "\[all's\] well that ends well." **More on New Twitter:** [*It Turns Out Facebook Also Owns a Trademark to "X," Specifically for Social Media*]() ## 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]()