Elon Musk May Set Up Social Media Platform on X.com

In the Summer of 2017, I reported on Elon Musk’s acquisition of the X.com domain name from PayPal. The acquisition price for this domain name was not disclosed by Musk or PayPal, so the purchase price for X.com remains publicly unknown. Since that time, Musk has done very little with the X.com domain name. It currently has a text letter “x” in the top left corner of the landing page.

According to a Wall Street Journal article this morning, Musk may use X.com for a social media platform if his deal to buy Twitter does not go through. That deal is currently being litigated. Here’s what the WSJ article noted:

“If the Twitter deal doesn’t close, Mr. Musk would buy Tesla stock again, he said. He also suggested he might set up his own social-media platform—X.com—if the deal falls through. He said before agreeing to buy Twitter that he was “giving serious thought” to such an endeavor.”

X.comwas originally an online bank co-founded by Musk. The company was acquired by PayPal and integrated within the PayPal platform. Following the integration, X.com was not used as a standalone business by PayPal and Musk was able to acquire it in 2017.

There are not many single letter .com domain names owned by third parties or in usage. Z.com is the only single letter .com that is used as a standalone brand. That domain name is owned by GMO and was acquired for nearly $6.8 million. In addition the Q.com domain name forwards to QuantumFiber.com.