Twitter Inc. ‘no longer exists’ and is now X Corp, as Elon Musk looks to build superapp

Twitter is no longer an independent entity and has merged with a new shell company called X Corp, a court filing has revealed.

The Twitter logo is seen on a sign on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California. Picture: AFP

Twitter Inc. “no longer exists” and has merged into a company named X Corp, according to a court filing in the United States.

Twitter owner Elon Musk gave a nod to the change yesterday, simply writing, “X”.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building on January 24, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Picture: Getty Images via AFP)

The details were revealed in court documents after conservative activist Laura Loomer sued Twitter and Facebook when her account was banned.

“... as successor in interest to named Defendant Twitter, Inc., hereby states that Twitter, Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists. X Corp. is a privately held corporation,” the filing by law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher states.

Loomer, who previously ran for Congress, has also named former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as defendants. She is seeking $5 billion in damages for alleged injuries to her business, election activities and reputation.

It’s unclear what the change means for Twitter, which Mr Musk purchased for about $61.4 billion ($US44 billion) last year.

X

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2023

The Twitter logo is seen on a sign on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California. Picture: AFP

It could, however, be indicative of a move towards the creation of a super app.

In late 2022, Mr Musk flagged that he wanted Twitter to become “X, the everything app”.

He is reportedly seeking to bring encryption to messages, monetise videos and include payments systems along the lines of Tencent’s WeChat.

Mr Musk has previously extolled the virtues of super apps.

“If you’re in China, you kind of live on WeChat,” he said on the All-In podcast.

“It does everything — sort of like Twitter, plus PayPal, plus a whole bunch of things, and all rolled into one, with a great interface.

“It’s really an excellent app, and we don’t have anything like that outside of China.”

He recently told staff at a town hall that there was a “real opportunity” to create a super app outside of China.

“I think if we could achieve that, or even close to that with Twitter, it would be an immense success,” he said, Business Insider reports.

Mr Musk has an affinity with the letter X. He founded the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation [Space X] in 2002 and he also owns the domain X.com, an online bank that he co-founded. It later merged with another company to become PayPal.

Originally published as Twitter Inc. ‘no longer exists’ and is now X Corp, as Elon Musk looks to build superapp