Twitter, the social media platform, has merged with a newly formed shell company called X Corp., according to a court document filed in a lawsuit against the company and its former CEO, Jack Dorsey. The move has sparked speculation about what Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, intends to do with the platform. Musk has previously suggested that buying Twitter would help create X, which he has referred to as an "everything app" similar to China's WeChat. Musk has been vague about how X will fit in with his various business ventures, which include Tesla and SpaceX.
The new company, X Corp., was set up on March 9 in Nevada, with its merger with Twitter submitted on March 15. Musk is the president of both X Corp. and its parent company, X Holdings Corp., which was also set up last month with an authorized capital of $2 million. Musk first set up a trio of holding companies in Delaware with variations of the name "X Holdings" in April last year as part of his takeover bid for Twitter.
The move has left many wondering what Musk has in store for Twitter, which has seen significant changes since the acquisition. Musk's desire to create an "everything app" suggests that Twitter could be integrated with other services and features, such as payments and event bookings. Musk's ownership of the domain "X.com" adds further speculation to the potential for a payment-focused feature within X.
Twitter no longer has a team handling media queries, and the company has not commented on the merger or Musk's intentions for the platform. Lawyers for the law firm representing Twitter in the case, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, have also not commented on the matter.
The move has attracted significant attention, with Musk's tweet about the merger receiving more than 13 million views within hours. In Japan, the topic "Twitter Gone" started trending, with users joking about what the platform's new name could be. The merger with X Corp. has left many curious about what the future holds for Twitter under Musk's ownership.